What future for foreign stakes in China’s banks?

Three key questions arise from the recent sale of stakes in Chinese banks by their global counterparts, two of them widely asked, one not. Observers are wondering what the impact will be on global banks’ relations with China, and what will happen when the lock-ups on foreign bank stakes in ICBC expire in April. Rather fewer are asking if, irrespective of the global lenders’ capital positions, this is anyway a good time to be bailing out of Chinese banks.

Did political pressure force Ken Lewis to pull CCB state sale?

As soon as Bank of America shelved a deal to shift some of its stake in China Construction Bank in December, many observers leapt to a swift conclusion: China had nixed the deal because it didn’t like the idea of the sale, or the timing. It is understood that Bank of America chairman and chief executive Ken Lewis pulled the sale after speaking with his opposite number at CCB, Guo Shuqing, but state pressure is unlikely to be the full story, as subsequent events have demonstrated.

What future for foreign stakes in China’s banks?

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What future for foreign stakes in China’s banks?

Thanks for your interest in Euromoney!To unlock this article:

Regulators should be upfront with taxpayers – and admit all deposits are guaranteed

The Danish Compromise tests Europe’s appetite for regulatory easing

What can US bankers really expect from Trump’s deregulation impetus?

Prem Natarajan on Capital One’s AI stairway to heaven

Thanks for your interest in Euromoney!
To unlock this article: