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HSBC starts process for A-share listing: report

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-20 11:43

HONG KONG: HSBC has picked 4-5 investment banks in its first round of selecting sponsorships and underwriters in its plan to launch shares in Chinese mainland, Apple Daily said on Monday citing unidentified sources.

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HSBC had invited mainland and sino-foreign joint venture investment banks in China to submit proposals for its A-share listing more than a month ago, and it was now entering into a second phase in the selection process, the newspaper said.

An HSBC spokesman said the bank had no comment on the report.

The market expects the lender to raise at least US$3 billion in its A-share offering and be among the first batch of foreign firms to list on the mainland.

A branch of HSBC bank is seen near The Houses of Parliament, in central London May 11, 2009. [Agencies]

Sources said HSBC will probably list in the first half of next year at the earliest.

CICC, CITIC Securities, UBS and Goldman Sachs joint venture Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities are expected to be among the institutions selected but a detailed list has yet to be confirmed.

A senior Ministry of Commerce official said earlier this month that China would encourage foreign-funded firms to make share offerings in the mainland.

HSBC, Europe's largest bank with a Shanghai branch office that opened some 150 years ago, could be in the running to be the first to list.

Shares of HSBC gained 1.68 percent early on Monday while the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI rose 1.96 percent.