Top Biz News

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."