Singapore's Temasek bought some of Goldman's ICBC shares, lifting stake

Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek has again taken up shares in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) that Goldman Sachs wanted to unload.

Temasek's stake in the bank rose to 7.04 per cent from 6.71 per cent after it paid HK$1.54 billion for 280 million ICBC shares. Hong Kong stock exchange data showed that Temasek paid an average of HK$5.50 per share.

Goldman raised US$2.5 billion from the sale of ICBC H shares in April last year. Temasek bought most of them, some US$2.3 billion worth.

The sovereign wealth fund is keen to invest in mainland banks, and it has allocated more than half its portfolio to Asia.

Temasek president Gregory Curl said last year the Big Four mainland banks should have enough cash flow to handle a fall in return on equity from interest rate liberalisation.

Curl added that the fund was more comfortable investing in mainland banks than their US counterparts.

"There are less ambiguities about policies and regulatory changes in China than in the US," he said at a conference.