From Bloomberg:
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the nation’s biggest lender, will seek waivers from the government to help sell a record $21 billion of stock in an initial public offering, two people involved in the sale said.
Conflicting regulations in Hong Kong and Shanghai are hampering the Beijing-based bank’s plan to sell about $14 billion of shares in Hong Kong and $7 billion in a simultaneous offering in Shanghai, said the people, who declined to be identified. Chinese regulations require underwriters to provide forecasts of where the stock will trade after the IPO, while Hong Kong prohibits such predictions.
Chinese companies including China Mobile Ltd. and PetroChina Co. opted for Hong Kong IPOs in part because the city’s rules meet global standards, boosting confidence in the corporate governance of publicly traded companies. Exempting ICBC from rules that clash with those in Hong Kong would set a precedent and encourage more dual sales, said Tian Qing, a fund manager at China Asset Management Co. in Beijing. [Full Text]
