HONG KONG (Reuters) - American International Group Inc is set to elevate Goldman Sachs Group Inc to the top role for handling the initial public offering of its Asian life insurance unit, sources said yesterday, a deal that could raise around $15 billion.

Goldman will share the role with Deutsche Bank AG and Morgan Stanley, the two banks AIG named as joint global coordinators last June when the IPO process for American International Assurance (AIA) initially began.

The names of the junior banks on the IPO were yet to be decided, the sources said.

Earlier this year, AIG added Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs, BofA Merrill Lynch, UBS AG, CCB International and ICBC International to help underwrite the deal. The IPO was pulled while Britain's Prudential Plc pursued a $35.5 billion offer for AIA that ultimately failed.

The AIA IPO, which could be the biggest ever on the Hong Kong stock exchange, could produce more than $500 million in fees.

On Monday, AIG named Mark Tucker as the new chief executive of AIA and formally kicked off the IPO.

The sources declined to be identified as the decision had yet to be made public. AIA declined to comment.

Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment, while Goldman Sachs declined to comment.