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Minsheng diversifies business

By Yu Lu (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-08 09:28

Visitors at a China Construction Bank booth at an exhibition in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province. [China Daily]

Chinese commercial banks are seeking to expand into investment banking and other financial businesses as they try to diversify their revenue sources.

To this end, China Minsheng Banking Corp recently set up an investment banking unit, the bank's Chairman Dong Wenbiao said yesterday on the sidelines of the annual session of the National Committee of the CPPCC.

The unit will underwrite short-term corporate bonds and consult on mergers and acquisitions.

"Over the next five years, we are going to become a diversified financial institution," Dong said, adding that diversified development will become a future trend for Chinese commercial banks.

The country's banking regulator is now gradually allowing commercial banks to enter non-banking businesses including brokerage, fund management, financial leasing and insurance operations. The goal is to diversify banks' business operations and improve competitiveness, although the current Commercial Bank Law still places strict restrictions on the business scope of commercial banks, which were imposed in 1995.

Minsheng bank earlier announced plans to enter the financial leasing and fund management businesses.

Guo Shuqing, chairman of China Construction Bank, also said during the annual meeting that the bank established its investment banking unit last year.

"We have been a leader in some investment banking businesses, such as underwriting bonds, consulting on enterprises' initial public offerings in Hong Kong and bank consortium loans," Guo said. "However, we need to register a local brokerage company in order to offer brokerage services."

The bank might consider acquiring a local brokerage company or relocating its Hong Kong subsidiary CCB International, which manages its investment banking business across Asia, to the mainland, when the regulator allows.

But under the current Commercial Bank Law, domestic commercial banks must apply for special approval from the State Council when expanding into a new business area.