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’China: Reaction or overreaction?
China’s credit-tightening moves continue to reverberate around the Asian region and further afield, despite some analysts’ views that the “China reaction” story is — well, an overreaction.
But “overreaction”
It’s happening, EM banks take on the world
China has had a few big moments along the way — becoming the world’s biggest holder of US government debt, building up the world’s biggest pool of foreign reserves and boasting the world’s biggest bank by some measures.
ICBC to raise stake in CS venture
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is expected to expand its share of a fund management joint venture with Credit Suisse in a move that may bode ill for foreign groups in China’s so-far relatively open fund management sector.
CIC — the multi-purpose SWF
Oh, for an investment bank client like China Investment Corp, as Lex observed recently, noting: “While other sovereign wealth funds talk a good deal, CIC does them”.
Many governments may also wish they had an SWF like CIC.
ICBC to buy Thailand’s ACL Bank
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank by market value, is buying Thailand’s smallest lender ACL Bank for up to $545m, in a move to tap the fast-growing Thai economy and expand regional operations,
China: The world’s new local bank
Last Friday, South Africa’s largest lender Standard Bank announced it had signed a $1bn loan facility with four Chinese banks.
On Tuesday, China’s Caijing Magazine offered a little more insight into what actually motivated that move for Standard Bank — which by the way is 20 per cent owned by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. As they wrote (our emphasis):
ICBC and Chinese banks — the path to ‘temporary greatness’
As (most) western banks struggle to get back on their feet, it’s hard not to look — and marvel — at the extraordinary expansion and robust earnings of China’s big banks. But factors driving the world biggest bank (by market value),
China’s lending boom lifts ICBC
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank by market value, posted a 3% rise in first-half net profit from a year earlier amid an unprecedented expansion in Chinese bank lending.
ICBC in deal to expand into Canada
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank by market value, said on Thursday it would purchase 70% of Bank of East Asia’s Canadian unit. Under the deal, ICBC will pay HK$567m ($73m) for the stake,
US groups raise $7bn to repay Tarp loans
US financial groups sold more than $7bn in fresh equity on Tuesday in a push to join the first wave of lenders to return government bailout funds, reports the FT. JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and American Express all raised equity they had claimed they did not need,
Goldman to sell ICBC shares
Goldman Sachs on Monday activated plans to sell up to $1.9bn worth of shares in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, in the latest high-profile divestment of stock in a mainland lender. Goldman is in advanced talks with institutional investors to sell up to 3.03bn Hong Kong-listed shares in ICBC,
BofA, CCB and capitalism with Chinese characteristics
So yet another big western bank is moving to sell down some of its Chinese bank investments, according to the FT’s report on Wednesday that Bank of America is considering the sale of an $8bn stake in China Construction Bank.
ICBC profits beat expectations
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank by market cap, reported a 6% annual rise in Q1 net profit on Monday, thanks mainly to rising fee income. However, while the results were stronger than that of many of ICBC’s foreign peers,
Allianz, Amex sell $1.9bn ICBC shares
Allianz and American Express on Tuesday sold a combined $1.9bm of shares in ICBC, the world’s largest lender by market cap, as a lockup on half their stakes ended, reports Bloomberg.The sales, to private investors,
Allianz, Amex to cash in ICBC stakes
Two more foreign investors in Chinese banks are expected to cash in lucrative stakes and raise in excess of $2bn this week as lock-in periods end for their holdings in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
ICBC takes top slot for deposits
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest lender by market cap, has now also become the biggest by deposits. The latest symbolic milestone underlines how Chinese banks have weathered the global crisis to become the world’s largest lenders.
Goldman’s required (Chinese) reading
Never one to pass up a chance to make money – or to let go of a lucrative project in-hand – Goldman Sachs has shown some uncharacteristic uncertainty over its maybe-maybe-not deliberations about whether to sell down its 4.9 per cent stake in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – described by Bloomberg on Thursday as “the world’s most profitable bank”
ICBC secures Goldman pledge
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on Wednesday secured a promise from Goldman Sachs that it would hold the majority of its stake in the Chinese lender for at least another year. Goldman, which holds 4.9% of ICBC,
Goldman to cut ICBC stake
Goldman Sachs is considering selling part of its 4.9% stake, valued at $7.5bn, in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, a move that could raise more than $1bn, reports the WSJ. Goldman began talking to ICBC about selling 15% to 20% of its stake late last year.
Investors to cut stakes in China banks
Sales of Chinese bank shares by overseas investors are expected to accelerate this year as western financial institutions divest stakes to help bolster balance sheets. Over the past few weeks, UBS and RBS have sold their holdings in Bank of China,
ICBC set for world record profit
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is expected to report the biggest profit of any bank in the world when it releases its interim report in Beijing on Thursday. ICBC, already the world’s largest bank by market cap,
US delays licences to Chinese banks
The US has held back approval of banking licences for China’s two biggest banks because of concerns over the role of CIC, China’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, as their largest shareholder, US and Chinese officials say.
China limits ICBC offer on Wing Lung
The Chinese government has capped what China Merchants Bank and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China will be allowed to pay for Hong Kong’s Wing Lung Bank, reports Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.
Chinese banks take great leap forward
China’s three largest banks reported huge jumps in Q1 profits in what may mark a peak in earnings this year, as government measures to curb loan growth and tackle inflation start to bite. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lifted Q1 net profit by 77% from a year earlier to Rmb33.1bn ($4.7bn) while Bank of China reported an 85% increase to Rmb21.7bn.
China banks turn down Dresdner deal
China’s top financial institutions, including its sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp, rejected reports they were considering the purchase of Allianz’s Dresdner bank, citing investment risk and political problems as key concerns,
Subprime dampens China’s banks
Bank of China on Tuesday said its profits in 2007 were dragged down by a $1.3bn writedown in US subprime-related holdings, although overall profits still rose 31% to Rmb56.2bn ($8bn). However, BoC lagged Industrial and Commercial Bank of China,
Chinese banks seek stake in StanChart
China’s three leading banks have approached Temasek, the Singapore state investment agency, to discuss the possible acquisition of its 17% in Standard Chartered, the UK-based emerging-markets lender.
South African ICBC deal signals China’s ambition
China issued a dramatic signal of expanding African ambitions with news that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is to buy a 20 per cent stake in South Africa’s Standard Bank. The $5.56bn deal between Asia’s biggest lender and the biggest bank in Africa by assets is the largest foreign acquisition by a Chinese commercial bank.
ICBC to pay $5.5bn for StanBank stake
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is to acquire a stake of about 20 per cent in Standard Bank, the largest bank in Africa by assets, in a step-up in China’s investment ambitions on the continent.