THE chairman of struggling investment bank China International Capital Corp. (CICC), Jin Liqun, plans to resign from his post this year, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

    The news follows the exit of CICC’s chief executive Levin Zhu, the most senior of a number of high-profile exits this year at the investment bank.

    “If there are no surprises, Jin Liqun will submit his resignation within the next two months,” said one source.

    The sources added that Jin plans to take up a position at Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

    AIIB, which has a proposed registered capital of US$50 billion, has so far attracted the interest of 21 countries and will mainly focus on infrastructure construction in Asia.

    Zhu was at the helm of CICC when it arranged a series of high-profile initial public offerings for large State-owned firms, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s largest lender, in 2006.

    Earlier this year, the bank also lost Jiang Guorong, co-head of investment banking, and Marshall Nicholson, co-head of international investment banking.

    A public relations official at CICC declined to comment.

    CICC was established in 1995 as a joint venture between China Construction Bank Corp. and Morgan Stanley, though the U.S. investment bank sold its 34.3 percent in 2010 to KKR & Co., TPG Capital Management, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and The Great Eastern Life Assurance Co.

    CICC had been the top Chinese investment bank for years as it led a number of high-profile listings of State-owned firms.

    However, as big initial public offerings have dried up among the State-owned firms, the bank’s profits have slipped and listed rivals CITIC Securities Co. and Haitong Securities Co. have stolen a march by targeting smaller firms.(SD-Agencies)