Yuan needs to be ‘liquid to be reserve currency’

    THE yuan needs to be liquid and freely convertible to be a major reserve currency but could be included in the International Monetary Fund’s global currency basket if these conditions are met, Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said Friday.

    The Special Drawing Rights (SDR) currency, the IMF’s official unit of account, currently comprises U.S. dollars, the euro, British pounds and Japanese yen. “The yuan must be liquid and freely convertible to be an international reserve currency. This is not completely the case at the moment,” Weidmann said. “But if these conditions are fulfilled, there is no argument against if the IMF then takes the yuan into the SDR currency basket.”

    BOC Hong Kong may get assets injection

    BANK of China is considering an injection of some Southeast Asian assets into its Hong Kong unit, BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd.

    An injection of banking businesses and assets into BOC Hong Kong will enhance customer services, marketing capability and the group’s competitive edge in the region. Bank of China, one of China’s big-four State-owned lenders, also plans to sell BOC Hong Kong’s entire interest in Nanyang Commercial Bank Ltd., as part of the group’s long-term development strategy.

    Huatai Securities raises US$4.5b in HK IPO

    MAINLAND brokerage firm Huatai Securities Co., the mainland’s fourth-largest brokerage by assets, has raised US$4.5 billion from its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong after pricing at the top end of its indicative range, sources said Friday.

    Huatai sold 1.4 billion shares at HK$24.80 (US$3.20) a share, at the top of its HK$20.68 to HK$24.80 price range, after hectic demand for stocks associated with China’s recent stock rally. Its IPO is the world’s largest so far this year since the US$4.8 billion IPO of Spanish airport operator Aena SA in Madrid in February.

    Regulator approves CNNPC’s listing plan

    THE China Securities and Regulatory Commission approved the stock market flotation of China National Nuclear Power Corp. (CNNPC), a unit of one of the country’s two nuclear reactor builders, the securities regulator said in a statement Friday.

    According to the company’s prospectus filed May 4 last year, CNNPC is a unit of China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), which invests, builds and operates domestic nuclear power plants. It has 12 subsidiaries in different regions. CNNC, which owns 97 percent of CNNPC, will sell about 25 percent of its shareholding.