BOC gears up for largest mainland IPO
By Fei Ya (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-07 08:51
The bank's Hong Kong shares
closed at HK$3.575 (46 US cents) yesterday, 20 per cent higher than the HK$2.95
(38 US cents) initial public offering price.
The CSRC ended a year-long
ban on share sales last month in an effort to attract bigger companies to
domestic markets, now dominated by smaller, State-owned manufacturers. Companies
such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the nation's biggest
lender, have said they plan to sell A shares. The ICBC plans its own Hong Kong
IPO of about US$12 billion this year.
BOC has been ensnared in a
corruption scandal recently with a Chinese businessman arrested for allegedly
embezzling 146 million yuan (US$18 million) from a local branch with the help of
bank employees.
Wu Guofang, general manager of Zhoukou Wanyuan Beer
Company in Central China's Henan Province, is accused of embezzling the money
from the bank's Shenqiu branch in 2004 and 2005.
As the Shenqiu case is
still going through the courts, the bank can't disclose any details, said bank
spokesman Wang Zhaowen.
But he added: "The case in Henan will not seriously affect
the operation and financial situation of BOC."
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