HSBC aims to be among first foreign listings in Shanghai

HSBC Holdings could be among the first foreign firms to list on the Shanghai stock exchange within two to three years as the mainland's richest city ramps up its ambitions to become a global financial centre.

HSBC hoped to be among the first batch of foreign companies to float in Shanghai, but no definite time frame had been set, said Peter Wong Tung-shun, an executive director of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, the Asia-Pacific unit of HSBC.

The listing could be a return to its roots for the global giant, which was set up in Hong Kong in 1865, with offices in Shanghai and London.

Mr Wong said a listing on the mainland could enhance its brand name and allow the lender to obtain more funding to facilitate expansion in a key market.

Beijing said last week it would permit foreign firms to list in Shanghai and use the yuan for trade settlements on a trial basis, part of a plan to fashion the city into a Hong Kong-style international financial centre.

Mr Wong also said the bank was still keen to tap the securities business on the mainland and had applied to issue yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong.

'The mainland could surpass Japan as the second-largest economy in the world by 2010 to 2011,' he said, adding that Hong Kong could benefit from the fast-growing regional trade between Southeast Asia and the mainland.