 |
Bank not Ready to Be Listed Yet
The Shanghai-based Bank of Communications, a pioneer of China's financial reforms, is still not ready to file documents to top financial authorities for its much harbingered listing on the stock market, said company executive vice-president Qiao Wei over the weekend.
Qiao said the bank, which is the fifth largest commercial bank in China behind the Big Four (the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, the China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China), is now pushing the matter as quickly as possible, but the exact date for the listing debut is still too early to predict.
"And the final decision is beyond our control, it will be decided by the top regulators - the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the central bank - the People's Bank of China (PBOC)," said Qiao in an exclusive interview with Chinadaily.
The bank's public flotation is expected to pave the way for other domestic commercial banks to raise funds from the capital market.
Speculation is rife in the market, saying that there will be a number of domestic banks going public in the months ahead and early next year. The moves, taken by top financial authorities to establish a more market-oriented financial system, come in the face of much tougher challenges posed by international conglomerate rivals expected after the WTO accession.
China Daily was told that the bank is now concentrating on internal reorganization to make itself better placed to reach the necessary standards of listed firms as quickly as possible.
"Going public is not our final goal but a way to achieve a much higher performance for our investors," said Qiao, adding that he has not paid much attention to the listing date.
Speaking after the bank's opening ceremony for the promotion of its Pacific Credit Card programme, Qiao said the bank would provide more customer-oriented products and value-added services to the market in the near future so as to win market favour.
Currently, the bank has issued over 12 million Pacific Credit Cards in China, of which over one million were issued in Shanghai.
Qiao went on to say that the bank will launch its first international credit card shortly.
He said the bank's internal reshuffle will improve its asset quality and increase its capital bases for business expansion.
The bank is currently owned by the central government, the local government and a number of large State-owned enterprises.
"Currently, there has not been a final decision on the time and place the listing will be," said Qiao, but he admitted that the bank has established a special working group responsible for preparatory work and communication between the bank and CSRC and PBOC.
And the group, coupled with a number of financial experts, has drafted several plans, including the time and destination and partial listing or whole listing for the final decision.
So far, China has two listed banks--the Shenzhen Development Bank was listed in the early 1990s and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank was listed late last year.
A number of domestic banking companies, including smaller ones, such as China Minsheng Bank, China Merchants Bank, and the big four State-owned commercial banks are also looking into the possibility of listing, as a move to gather funds for the promotion of further growth.
In This Section
|