Bank of China unit fined $1.27 million in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, March 18 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's securities regulator has fined a unit of Bank of China HK$10 million ($1.27 million) for failing to follow guidelines on sale of investment products.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said that Bank of China International Securities failed to properly assess some of its clients' risk tolerance levels, or to ensure that its recommendations to clients were suitable.

Rules governing the sale of investment products, and firms' compliance with them are a focus in Asia at the moment, following Australia's year-long inquiry into financial wrongdoing, which made a number of recommendations about how financial products should be marketed to consumers.

Bank of China International did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bank of China International Securities is fully owned by Bank of China International, the investment banking wholly-owned subsidiary of China's fourth-largest lender Bank of China.

($1 = 7.8499 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Alun David John; Editing by Shreejay Sinha)