Bank of China to face legal hearings in Italy after procedural delay

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian judge has accepted a request from prosecutors in a money laundering case to bring Bank of China (BOC) and four of its employees into preliminary hearings ahead of a possible trial, a legal source said on Thursday.

Magistrates had to re-file their request for China's fourth-biggest bank to be put on trial after a procedural error interrupted hearings in April.

Under Italian law the bank could settle the case without formally admitting it had committed any crime.

The case concerns allegations by Florence prosecutors that more than 4.5 billion euros ($5 billion) was smuggled to China from Italy between 2006 and 2010 by Chinese people living mainly in Florence and nearby Prati.

Prosecutors allege half of the money was sent via BOC's Milan branch, according to a court document seen by Reuters. BOC denies wrongdoing in the case.

With Thursday's decision, both the bank and the four senior employees affected by April's ruling rejoin 293 other defendants. The judge has continued hearing the case against the others in the meantime.

BOC said in a statement sent to Reuters that it had always worked in full respect of Italian and international anti-money laundering laws and the decision to bring the bank and the four employees back into the hearings was a technical matter.

The judge will now have to decide whether to send the defendants to trial. The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 23.

($1 = 0.9010 euros)

(Reporting by Silvia Ognibene, writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)