A top state-owned bank announced underwriters yesterday for China's biggest initial public offering to date, awarding lucrative roles to Merrill Lynch & Co, Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group following intense competition by the world's investment banks.
The IPO by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC, 中國工商銀行) in Hong Kong this year is expected to raise up to US$10 billion, according to state media. Underwriters could earn up to US$300 million if they are paid a standard 3 percent fee.
China's banks are raising billions of dollars from foreign investors and trying to modernize operations as Beijing prepares to open the market to foreign competitors under WTO commitments.
ICBC is China's biggest state-owned commercial bank, with 20,000 branches and more than 6 trillion yuan (US$750 billion) in total assets.
But it has lagged behind some state-owned rivals that already have tapped capital markets in Hong Kong, an autonomous Chinese territory used by mainland companies to raise money from foreign investors.
Its offering is expected to surpass the US$9.2 billion record set by China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行), the No. 3 state-owned commercial bank, in Hong Kong in October.
China's No. 2 state-owned commercial lender, Bank of China (中國銀行), is preparing for an IPO in Hong Kong by the middle of this year that is expected to raise US$6 billion.
China's state banks are struggling to clear away a mountain of unpaid loans owed by government companies.
Bank also are trying to tighten accounting and internal controls amid a multibillion-dollar string of scandals over embezzlement and fraudulent loans by their own executives.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique