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Citigroup has struck a $3bn deal to sell an interest in a Chinese lender it took after a takeover battle a decade ago, joining a retreat by western banks from investments China’s financial institutions.
花旗集團(Citigroup)已達成一份30億美元的協議，出售其在中國一家銀行所持股份，這些股份是花旗10年前在一場并購戰后獲得的。此舉令該行加入了撤出對中國金融機構投資的西方銀行行列。
The New York-based bank’s agreement to sell its 20 per cent holding in Guangfa to China Life Insurance for Rmb19.7bn is the latest sign that tougher regulations imposed since the financial crisis are encouraging lenders to shed their holdings in other banks. Several of Citi’s rivals have struck similar deals to part with Chinese assets.
總部位于紐約的花旗同意以197億元人民幣將其持有的廣發銀行(Guangfa) 20%的股份轉讓給中國人壽(China Life Insurance)。該協議是一個最新跡象，表明金融危機后更嚴格的監管正促使各銀行脫手其他銀行股份。花旗的幾個競爭對手也已達成類似協議，出售中國資產。
Citi said the sale of the stake would allow it to focus on expanding through its own network in the country, where it employs more than 8,000 people in 13 cities.
花旗表示，轉讓這一股份能令該行聚焦于通過其自身在華網絡拓展業務。在中國，該行在13個城市雇用逾8000員工。
“It just was a matter of getting the right price and finding the right buyer,” said Jeffery Harte, analyst at Sandler O’Neill & Partners. “The trouble with stakes in financials is they’re penalised under regulatory capital rules.”
Sandler O'Neill & Partners分析師杰弗里哈特(Jeffery Harte)表示：“這事只關乎找到合適的買家并賣個好價錢。持有金融機構股份的問題在于，按照有關資本的監管規則，這些股份對金融機構十分不利。”
Citi took the stake for $620m in 2006 during a wave of foreign investment in China’s lenders. It led a consortium that fought a long campaign to take control of Guangfa, the former Guangdong Development bank focused on the industrial heartland of southern China.
花旗是2006年在外資對中國各銀行的一輪投資潮中，以6.2億美元買入廣發銀行股份的。以該集團為首的一個財團為了控制廣發銀行付出了漫長努力。廣發銀行的前身是廣東發展銀行(Guangdong Development Bank)，主要業務集中于華南地區的工業腹地。
Challenges with Guangfa became evident in 2009 when it was hit by a corruption scandal. Two senior executives at the Chinese bank were detained. The incident highlighted how foreign banks with stakes in Chinese financial institutions have struggled to influence management.
2009年，廣發銀行面臨的挑戰被暴露出來，當時該行遭到了一宗腐敗丑聞的打擊。這家中資銀行的兩名高管被羈押。這一事件凸顯出，持有中國金融機構股份的外國銀行很難影響其管理層。
Chinese authorities have restricted the expansion of foreign banks. In recent years, the total assets of foreign banks in China has fallen to below 2 per cent of the country’s total bank assets.
中國當局嚴格限制外資銀行的擴張。最近幾年，外資銀行在華總資產已下滑至中國總銀行資產的2%以下。
Francisco Aristeguieta, head of Citi’s Asia-Pacific arm, said China remained “one of our highest-priority markets around the world”, adding: “This transaction is consistent with the simplification of Citi and allows us to focus our resources in China on growing our core franchise further.”
花旗亞太區主管高晉誠(Francisco Aristeguieta)表示，中國依然是“我們在全球最重視的市場之一”，并稱：“該交易符合花旗的精簡戰略，令我們能夠將在華資源集中于進一步發展本行的核心業務。”
The deal follows an aborted push to float Guangfa on the stock market. A high bad debt ratio spoilt its prospects.
這筆交易是在廣發中止推進上市之路后進行的。高壞賬率影響了廣發的前景。
A person close to the transaction said that the investment had generated about $2bn in profits over the past decade but because it was carried at book value would not be material to earnings. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.
一名熟悉交易內情的人士表示，花旗對廣發的投資在過去10年產生了約20億美元的利潤，但由于按照賬面價值結轉，它不會對盈利產生實質性影響。這筆交易預計將在今年下半年完成。
UBS was the first to dump an investment in a Chinese bank, selling its 3.4bn shares in Bank of China for $835m in 2009. In 2013, Goldman Sachs sold about $1bn worth of shares in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Later that year, Bank of America Corp sold its remaining shares in China Construction Bank for $1.47bn.
瑞銀(UBS)是第一家從中國的銀行撤資的外資銀行，其在2009年以8.35億美元出售了持有的中國銀行(BoC)的34億股。2013年，高盛(Goldman Sachs)出售了工商銀行(ICBC)價值10億美元的股票。同年晚些時候，美國銀行(BoA)以14.7億美元出售了其持有的中國建設銀行(CCB)的剩余股份。
HSBC still holds on to the 20 per cent of Bank of Communications that it bought for $1.7bn in 2004, in what was the first foreign investment in a Chinese bank.
匯豐銀行(HSBC)依然持有其在2004年以17億美元購得的交通銀行(Bank of Communications)的20%的股份，那是外資對中資銀行的首筆投資。
