IFC to aggressively invest in securities
(AFX)
Updated: 2006-07-17 09:57
International Finance Corp (IFC), the World Bank's investment arm, plans to
invest in China's securities industry as aggressively as it has in the banking
industry, where it has spent almost US$600 million in seven years, the
South China Morning Post reported, citing an IFC official.
"We will try to help reform China's securities sector, just like we did with
the banking sector," the Hong Kong newspaper cited Karin Finkelston, associate
director of IFC's East Asia and Pacific department, as saying.
China is the IFC's fifth-biggest overall investment destination.
However, while Chinese authorities have been receptive to IFC's involvement
in banking, the same cannot be said of its efforts to penetrate the securities
industry, the newspaper said.
Its application to buy five pct of Changjiang BNP Paribas Peregrine
Securities, submitted last year, is still pending with the securities regulator.
In 2002, the regulator rejected IFC's offer to spend 12 mln usd to buy up to 16
pct of a joint venture between Changjiang Securities and France's BNP Paribas
Group.
Finkelston said besides investing directly in securities firms, IFC might
also sell more yuan-denominated bonds in the local debt market to raise funds
for lending to privately owned Chinese firms. Last year, it issued a 1.13 bln
yuan, 10-year panda bond.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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