Many local banks planning initial share offerings

BEIJING - Several Chinese city commercial banks - lenders that own regional rather than national licenses - have submitted their applications for an initial public offering (IPO) to the securities regulator, with the Bank of Jiangsu planning to raise up to 10 billion yuan ($1.52 billion) on the A-share market, Chinese media reported on Thursday.

The Bank of Jiangsu is in the final stage of its IPO and has hired BOC International Holdings Ltd as its underwriter, the State-run Securities Times reported.

The listing would be the first IPO by a city commercial bank in three years. But the report did not say when the bank will launch the IPO.