Banking giants want to sell shares in entire operations to mainland investors
Both Hang Seng Bank and its parent company, HSBC Holdings, hope to gain a mainland share listing, Hang Seng chairman Michael Smith said yesterday, although they will have to clear a host of regulatory hurdles first.
'It will be nice ... to be listed in Shanghai in order to give access to Chinese investors,' Mr Smith said.
For HSBC, Europe's largest bank, a China listing will be just the latest in a long list that includes Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York and Bermuda.
Both lenders will list their entire operations, rather than just their China units, said Mr Smith, who is also the president and chief executive of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, the city's biggest lender.
'It is not realistic to list our mainland business, which is still small,' he said.
The two lenders are not the first to eye a mainland listing. Hong Kong-based Bank of East Asia in 2000 unveiled plans - as yet unfulfilled - to have China depositary receipts (CDRs) representing shares traded in Hong Kong listed on the Shanghai exchange. German electronics giant Siemens has shown similar interest.
