Central bank drains most funds in six months

    CHINA’S central bank yesterday drained the most funds from the financial system in six months, adding to speculation that it is keeping a tight rein on cash supply as part of efforts to curb excessive leverage.

    The People’s Bank of China pulled a net 245 billion yuan (US$37 billion) from the financial system through reverse repurchase agreements, the biggest one-day withdrawal since March 4. This follows last week’s 670 billion yuan injection to meet pre-holiday demand. The benchmark money-market rate reacted to yesterday’s open market operations by surging the most in five months.

    Bank of Shanghai eyes US$1.6b via IPO

    BANK of Shanghai yesterday said it plans to raise at least 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) in an initial public offering (IPO) in Shanghai to boost capital.

    The bank will sell as many as 600 million shares, according to a prospectus. Guotai Junan Securities Co. and Shenwan Hongyuan Securities will be lead underwriters, according to the prospectus. The bank’s net income in the first nine months of the year may have climbed 8.9 percent from a year earlier to 11.1 billion yuan, the prospectus said.

    Guotai Junan plans to issue HK shares

    GUOTAI Junan Securities Co. plans to issue up to 1.04 billion Hong Kong shares, the company said in a Shanghai Stock Exchange filing late Sunday.

    The firm plans to raise at least US$2 billion in a Hong Kong listing in the first half of 2017, people close to the plan told IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication early in September. The proceeds will be used to raise capital for domestic and foreign securities-related business development and investment, the filing said. The Shanghai-listed brokerage went public in June 2015, raising US$4.8 billion in what is still the largest listing in the country since 2010.

    Cinda to sell offshore preference shares

    CHINA Cinda Asset Management Co. said Sunday it would issue US$3.2 billion in non-cumulative perpetual offshore preference shares to replenish its additional tier-1 capital.

    The shares will have a dividend rate of 4.45 percent, the company said in a statement. The issue is to “improve the overall competitiveness of the company and to ensure continuous business development of the company,” Cinda said.