Bank of America Corp is weighing a possible reduction in its holdings of BlackRock Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the situation.

The paper said that the bank has concluded that its 34 percent share of BlackRock Inc isn't a core asset.

Still, no talks have been held about details of how it might happen, and the bank may keep the 64.7 million common and preferred shares of BlackRock that it owns, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Far-reaching rules proposed recently by the Basel Committee of Bank Supervision, known as the Basel III capital requirements, will effectively prevent banks from holding big stakes in other companies.

Bank of America and PNC Financial Services Group Inc may be forced to sell their stakes in asset manager BlackRock under those rules, Reuters reported earlier in August.

In the United States, banks rarely own large chunks of other companies. But Bank of America and PNC -- through a unique series of deals -- combined own nearly 60 percent of BlackRock, though the asset management company remains independent.

Bank of America owns a 34.1 percent economic interest in the asset manager, a BlackRock spokeswoman previously told Reuters. As of March 31, the bank valued its BlackRock investment at $14.1 billion.

Bank of America could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Editing by Bernard Orr)

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