Topic

Bank of Communicationsi

Established in 1908, Bank of Communications is one of the largest banks in the People’s Republic of China. It was listed in Hong Kong in 2005 and in Shanghai in 2007.

Advertisement
  • The HK$680 million (US$86.72 million) flat in Opus Hong Kong has been put up for sale by tender by the receivers, according to Savills
  • Fifth-floor unit ‘easily one of the most precious residential properties in Asia’, Savills executive says

Chinese tycoon Chen Hongtian is in discussions with lenders to retrieve assets worth HK$10 billion (US$1.27 billion) after a ‘short-term liquidity issue’ forced him to miss mortgage payments.

Chinese lenders largely shrugged off the recent banking crisis in developed markets, gaining in value to take the top five spots in a league table of Asia-Pacific banks ranked by market capitalisation.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement

Major banks have reported declining net interest margins, a crucial measure of their profitability, while the struggling property market portends slower growth, if not an outright contraction, in new mortgage applications.

videocam

Chen Hongtian’s company, Cheung Kei Group, cites defaults on ‘several big-ticket accounts receivable’ and ‘abnormal obstacles’ for loss of control over assets including house on The Peak.

The share prices of Chinese securities firms have slumped ahead of their earnings announcements for 2022 amid expectations of record losses.

videocam

After the PBOC and the CBIRC officially confirmed a 16-point rescue plan for the real estate sector on Wednesday, banks have been rushing to offer financing support for several struggling companies.

ICBC, the world’s largest bank by assets, sees more challenges ahead in staving off the impact of China’s strict zero-Covid measures on its loan quality.

videocam

Two Chinese state-owned banks said this week that their first-half earnings were largely unhurt by the country’s Covid-19 lockdown measures, but more challenges are in store.

videocam

Dividend payments by onshore Chinese companies likely to exceed 1 trillion yuan for financial year 2021 for the first time, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Twelve Hong Kong banks, including note-issuing lenders HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of China (Hong Kong), will suspend all banking services on Saturdays starting this week and the next until further notice.

Chinese banks exited the third quarter with marginal improvement in bad loan ratios. Lending to developers may still become troublesome as Evergrande and distressed peers struggle to repay.

videocam

Postal Savings Bank of China reported the highest first-half profit among lenders that published results on Friday. Bocom president optimistic about full-year outlook.

videocam

Nowhere is the problem more serious than in Guangzhou, where 33,000 foreclosures were reported in a city whose economy shrank 2.7 per cent last year, more than the national average of 1.6 per cent.

China already boasts more digital mobile payment users than anywhere else on earth, in a US$49 trillion market almost 500 times bigger than in the United States. The People’s Bank of China governor Yi Gang wants to hasten the digital transformation of China’s currency and economy.

videocam

As the US-China tensions escalate, companies are struggling to remain apolitical on the controversial national security law. Investors look to its implementation and potential ESG pitfalls.

videocam

Several bank officials say the crude oil derivative products effectively overstepped regulations that bar the country’s lenders from operating as commodities futures brokerages.

Several state-owned lenders have paused the sale of similar financial products for their retail customers, exposing the deficiencies in China’s 22.2 trillion yuan wealth management industry, where regulations and investor protection measures fail to keep up with a rapidly growing industry.

Bank of China may shoulder part of US$1 billion in losses suffered by its retail clients in an investment product linked to oil prices amid public outcry.

videocam

China’s biggest lenders new investment in products tied to commodities futures after the collapse of oil prices burned investors at home and abroad.

videocam

Investors are being rattled because of a rarely used but very important detail in the WTI contract: anyone holding futures after they expire could be forced to take delivery of crude in the US oil hub of Cushing, Oklahoma. For the May contract, that expiration happened Tuesday night.