Hawai'i's two largest banks could gain tens of millions of dollars from Visa Inc.'s $17 billion public offering later this month.

According to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bank of Hawaii Corp. owns 900,000 shares of restricted Visa stock, which it received last October as a member of the San Francisco-based credit card network.

First Hawaiian Bank also owns shares in Visa, but the privately held company did not disclose the size of its holdings.

Visa's March 19 public offering is expected to be the largest ever IPO in the country, with more than 406 million shares expected to be sold at a price between $37 and $42.

Allan Landon, Bank of Hawaii's chief executive officer, said the company plans to hold on to most of its shares but may have to redeem some stock.

"Our plan would not be to sell immediately unless we had no choice," said Landon.

Landon said Bank of Hawaii's 900,000 shares of restricted stock will be converted into common shares and restricted Class B stock, although the exact amount of the bank's new shares has not yet been determined.

According to Visa's filing with the SEC, shareholders are prohibited from selling Class B stock for three years.

A Visa spokesman declined comment beyond the company's filings with the SEC.

Other members in the Visa network include JPMorgan Chase & Co., whose shares could be worth as much as $2.55 billion, and Bank of America, whose Visa stock could be valued at $1.26 billion, according to Bloomberg News.

Visa said it plans to use about $3 billion of the IPO proceeds to settle several lawsuits, including a 2004 antitrust legal dispute with American Express.

Although it was not named in the complaint, Bank of Hawaii — whose membership in the Visa network spans several decades — recorded a $4.3 million charge in December as a result of the American Express lawsuit.

Bank of Hawaii said portions of the proceeds from the Visa IPO will be used to pay its share of the settlement costs.

Money raised in the Visa IPO could be used to settle similar lawsuits against Visa by Discover Financial Services Inc., consumers and merchants, the bank said.

Those suits are still pending.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.