Bank of China (BOC), China's third-largest commercial lender by assets, has denied accusations that it transferred money to terrorist groups, and has said it will defend itself against a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.

On Friday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that more than 100 victims of terrorism in Israel had filed a lawsuit against the BOC demanding the institution stop transferring money to terrorist groups.

The suit accuses the bank of putting through dozens of wire transfers totaling several million dollars to Hamas and Islamic Jihad and ignoring Israeli demands to desist, AP said.