Bank of Shanghai, the second-biggest city commercial bank that is partly owned by HSBC Holdings, has the municipal government's approval for the appointment of a new governor, ending a management reshuffle that has lasted for months, sources said. However, the lender's planned share offering, which has been expected to follow the reshuffle, has been stalled because of the market turmoil and regulatory requirements. 'The end of the reshuffle was initially intended to coincide with a final sprint towards a much-hyped initial public offering,' a source said. 'However, it's no longer the case after the market rout over the past few months.' Qu Qiuping, who joined the Bank of Shanghai two months ago as a vice-governor, will replace Chen Xin as governor. Mr Chen also stepped down as the bank's chairman in August. Mr Chen, who has headed the Bank of Shanghai for four years, would move to Shanghai Pudong Development Bank as vice-chairman, the source said. The arrangement is expected to be announced within two weeks. Bank of Shanghai is 8 per cent owned by HSBC Holdings. Mr Qu, a former deputy head of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's Shanghai branch, 'was briefed by the city's Communist Party organisation department late last week about his new job', said a government source. Bank of Shanghai started talks in June with leading brokerages to find an underwriter for its proposed public offering. It has been widely reported that an internal deadline of the first quarter of next year had been set. However, since then the mainland market has dropped amid a global financial crisis, with the Shanghai Composite Index losing 67.31 per cent so far this year. 'Despite its healthy financial conditions, it's just not the right time for Bank of Shanghai to list,' said Li Yamin, an analyst with Shenyin Wanguo. 'The same goes for other fund-craving mainland city commercial lenders.' Bank of Shanghai, with 309 billion yuan (HK$349.88 billion) of assets at the end of last year, ranks second to Bank of Beijing. In the past 15 months, three city commercial banks, including Bank of Beijing, have floated on the A-share market. Bank of Shanghai recorded a 2.93 billion yuan profit last year. Another Shanghai-based analyst cited the lender's numerous small shareholders, which goes against mainland corporate laws, as the other reason for the listing delay. Mainland rules cap the number of shareholders of any company planning to go public at 200, a requirement most urban credit union turned commercial lenders struggle to meet. Bank of Shanghai reported more than 40,000 shareholders at the end of last year. 'These banks have stepped up their efforts to concentrate the stakes but the progress has been difficult,' the analyst said. On the board In the past 15 months, three city commercial banks have floated The amount of assets Bank of Shanghai had at the end of last year, in yuan: 309b yuan