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BBVA seeks QFII permit

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-27 08:37

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain's second-biggest bank, is seeking a license to invest in Chinese stocks, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

The bank, known as BBVA, is applying for a so-called qualified foreign institutional investor permit so its Spanish funds can invest in Chinese equities, said Manuel Galatas, the head of BBVA's Asian operations, at a media briefing in Beijing.

BBVA is also seeking a qualified domestic institutional investor permit with local partner China Citic Bank Corp to invest Chinese capital overseas, Galatas said. The bank plans to introduce a China fund to be managed by investment arm Citic Capital in Spain this September, he said, without giving details of the fund's size.

BBVA is tapping institutional investors in Spain and Europe who are keen to access a stock market that has almost doubled this year, the world's second-best performers this year. European-based banks such as BBVA, HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Charted Plc are also vying to help Chinese investors manage money overseas, where they're expected to buy US$100 billion of stocks and bonds in the coming year, according to a Friday report by JPMorgan Chase & Co economist Frank Gong.