Elite Chinese Politics and Political Economy

So, it seems that the deal between Citibank and China Construction Bank has collapsed. In January 2004, Citibank had won out over HSBC, JP Morgan, and Deutsche Bank to serve as chief advisor to CCB's impending IPO. Supposedly, Charles Prince himself promised that Citibank would acquire over 2 billion USD worth of CCB shares upon IPO, or roughly 10% of CCB shares. Although the Chinese press makes it seem like it is Citibank's internal problems that led to to the collapse of the deal. Citibank management instead might have done some clear-headed thinking and realized that a state-owned bank is still too risky a proposition in which to sink over 2 billion.

Although as "strategic investor," Citibank would have been entitled to send one and possibly two VPs to CCB, would they have had any power as outsiders and non-party members. Despite Guo's promise, it remains to be seen how much power outsiders will exercise in CCB and other large state banks. The market has also reassessed the risk of investing in CCB. Note that the current strategic partner with CCB, Bank American, will only sink 1.2 billion for a 5% share, half of what Citibank had supposedly promised. In truth, I share Citibank's circumspection because it remains difficult for the Chinese government to refrain from interfering in a large bank such as CCB. Citibank and other large foreign banks hoping to get into the Chinese market would do much better to invest in mid-size joint-stock banks and good city commercial banks since most of their business is on the prosperous coastal region. Frankly, much of the inland banking market is just not worth very much in the foreseeable future.


金融时报

国际在线报道：在承销中国建设银行(CCB)上市事宜上，花旗集团(Citigroup)已出局。此前，建行指责花旗违背了购买超过10亿美元股权的诺言。建行的上市规模达50亿美元，是亚洲最大的首次公开上市交易之一。

这一变化对花旗集团是一次沉重打击，它已与摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)一起为建行股票的海外上市工作了15个月。此前，花旗集团在全球范围内遭遇了一系列监管问题。

据悉建行已在过去几周告知花旗集团，不要参加有关首次公开发行的准备会议。建行的上市很可能年底前在香港进行。

这意味着花旗将可能不再担任建行的上市顾问。花旗出局后，预计将失去超过8700万美元的承销费。

知情人士表示，中国四大国有银行之一的建行想要惩罚这家全球最大的金融服务集团，因为建行认为，花旗未能兑现在建行首发前买入股权的承诺。

“他们已被‘取消(与会)邀请’，因为这家中国银行对花旗买入股份的承诺已失去耐心，”一位人士说。去年1月，花旗集团击败汇丰银行(HSBC)、JP摩根(JPMorgan)和德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)等竞争对手，赢得了建行上市顾问的资格。

据悉，花旗集团之所以在激烈的角逐中胜出，原因之一就是它提出在建行持有一笔“战略股权”，并帮助这家中国银行对业务操作进行现代化改造。

尽管进行了数月的谈判，花旗集团仍未能与建行达成交易。而且据悉建行已与花旗的竞争对手美国银行(Bank of America)进入了后期谈判。美国银行提出将出资约12亿美元，持有建行5%的股权。

美国银行的介入可能让花旗难以买到建行股份，即使它想这么做，因为据悉美国银行正与建行谈判一项排他性协议。

花旗集团昨天拒绝置评。花旗从未确认过买入股权的承诺，它成为战略投资者的承诺有多坚定也并不明朗。

建行昨天也拒绝发表评论。