Anbang is financial investor: Minsheng

    ANBANG Insurance Group Co., the biggest stakeholder in China Minsheng Banking Corp., is purely a financial investor and its recent share purchases have been based on its positive view of the outlook for the bank, Minsheng said yesterday.

    The bank’s statement cited remarks by its chairman Hong Qi in a meeting with analysts Sunday. Hong also told analysts that other major shareholders were similarly optimistic about the bank and wouldn’t sell their shares despite media reports that the lender’s president had been questioned by anti-corruption investigators. The bank said Saturday that its president Mao Xiaofeng had resigned due to personal reasons that were unrelated to bank operations.

    Shenzhen-HK link complete: bourse chief

    THE head of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said the design of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect program has been completed and will match the design of the currently running Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect program, the Securities Times said yesterday.

    The paper, which is operated by the People’s Daily, quoted “recent comments” made by Wu Lijun in Hong Kong, without giving a specific date. Wu said technical preparations had begun now that the design was complete, the report said.

    Chalco shares tumble on 2014 loss

    ALUMINUM Corp. of China Ltd., also known as Chalco, yesterday closed down 7.05 percent before tumbling as much as 9.6 percent in Shanghai trading after revealing a wider-than-expected loss amid asset writedowns and falling prices.

    Chalco, which is China’s biggest producer of primary aluminum, expects to post a net loss of 16.3 billion yuan (US$2.61 billion) for 2014, compared with a profit of 948 million yuan a year earlier, it said in a statement Friday. The last time it posted a loss was in 2012.

    Everbright Securities nears HK deal

    EVERBRIGHT Securities, the eighth-biggest brokerage on the Chinese mainland, is nearing an agreement to buy control of Sun Hung Kai’s securities and wealth management businesses for about US$500 million, sources said yesterday.

    Everbright Securities will acquire about 70 percent of the Hong Kong-based company’s Sun Hung Kai Financial unit, the sources said. An acquisition would help Everbright Securities bolster its presence in Hong Kong.