According to unnamed, yet reliable sources, Goldman Sachs Group Inc has sold $1.9 billion worth of shares - comprising 18.3 percent of its stake - in the world's largest lender by market value, the China-based Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), on Monday.

Going by the source, the Wall Street bank, which presently has 4.9 percent holding in ICBC, has sold one-fifth of its share constituting 3.03 billion shares.

Earlier this year, Goldman had announced its decision of retaining 80 percent of its ICBC stake until April 2010. As per a previous lockup agreement, the bank would have been permitted to dispose off half of its stake in the state-managed bank this year in April and the remaining in October.

By the way of the sale of the aforesaid part of its stake in ICBC, Goldman has raised additional cash, which will likely go towards the company's repayment of the bail-out funds that it had received from the US Treasury under TARP - the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

In a May 18 filing with the federal regulators, Goldman had sought permission to repay the $10 billion bail-out funds that it had received. Towards that end, the sale of the ICBC stake will boost Goldman's balance sheet, thereby helping it avoid dipping into its present cash reserves for repayment!