Efforts by Chinese banks to list as A-share companies have accelerated markedly in 2019.
Four banks successfully launched their A-share IPO’s in the first quarter of this year, which is already ahead of the full year figure for 2018.
These banks include Jiangsu Zijin Rural (紫金银行), Bank of Qingdao (青岛银行), Bank of Xi’an (西安银行) and Qingnong Rural Commercial (青农商行).
2018 saw only three A-share listings by Chinese banks – Bank of Chengdu (成都银行), Bank of Zhengzhou (郑州银行) and Bank of Changsha (长沙银行).
2017 only saw one A-share listing of a Chinese bank – Jiangsu Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial (张家港行).
2019 is on track to see more debut listings from Chinese banks, with Bank of Suzhou (苏州银行) recently grabbing approval from regulators, and big six state-owned bank Postal Savings Bank of China announcing on 17 June that the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) had given its approval to an IPO.
Postal Savings Bank’s IPO is expected to raise 20 billion yuan via the issuance of up to 5.948 billion shares, and is likely to be the largest for the year should it be approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
14 banks were awaiting review as of 23 May, including five eyeing listings in Shenzhen and nine in Shanghai.
All but one of these 14 Chinese lenders awaiting IPO approval are municipal commercial banks or rural commercial banks, with analysts anticipating an imminent rise in the number of A-share regional lenders.
