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SCMP Reporter

Bank expected to announce this month its status as a commercial firm in the first step towards its IPO

China Construction Bank (CCB) will announce this month its transformation from a state-owned firm into a shareholding concern, following in the footsteps of Bank of China (BOC), a senior bank official  says.

'We are completing the preparation for the restructuring to be a shareholding company. The deadline is September,' said Yu Baoyue, a director of the bank's press office.

'This will pave the way for China Construction Bank to go public.'

Last week,   BOC  announced  its metamorphosis from an arm of the government to an independent, commercial bank, as the first step towards a public listing.

Analysts said  BOC's action increased the pressure on  CCB to follow suit as both banks were racing to sell shares on domestic and overseas exchanges within a year or so.

'They want to do it to make sure they are seen as being on the ball,'  Moody's banking analyst Wei Yen said.

Mr Yu would not comment about the timing of the  initial public offering but said the bank would provide a date for  it 'in the near future'.

Some media reports have stated the bank will hold a press conference on September 15 but the bank would not confirm this.

In the meantime,  CCB is busy cleaning up its books and examining its national offices to see how  it can be better organised.

'We are doing an overall check on the assets business and internal management of the headquarters and branches in other provinces to sort out assets and liabilities and get a better understanding of the quality of the properties in the entire bank before it goes public,' Mr Yu said.

Analysts said the  BOC and CCB faced significant challenges in reorganising their operations in time for a listing in a year because of the large number of branches and difficulties of inserting a new management structure.

In addition to its listing plans,  CCB has  been looking for  a strategic investor that will help to improve the bank's internal management and make it more attractive to foreign investors during the flotation.

However, analysts said that foreign banks were expected to be wary of acquiring a stake in a large state-owned bank that would be relatively expensive and would not give them control or even much influence.

'The next point is to find a strategic investor. The costs would be quite high in these large banks and they would have zero control,' Mr Yen said.

'Maybe you can distribute products through these networks but I wonder how successful they can be.'

There have been unconfirmed reports that  CCB is negotiating to sell an equity share to a state-owned company, a move that would broaden the bank's investment base but would not introduce foreign management practices.

Meanwhile, the mainland's fifth-largest lender, the Bank of Communications, plans to list simultaneously in Hong Kong and Shanghai by the end of the year and expects to raise US$2 billion , according to media reports.

Additional reporting by Vivian Wu



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