Syndicated loans in Australia target of China’s banks
(3 July 2012 – China) Chinese banks are targeting Australia’s syndicated loan market as European banks consolidate and pull out of the region.
Asian banks, mostly Chinese and Japanese, took some 21 percent of new syndicated loan issuance in Australia in the year-to-date, up 4 percent from a year earlier. This market share has been wrested from European banks that have cut down lending by half.
State-owned Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China’s biggest bank and the most profitable in the world, has lent US$860 million, up almost a third from a year ago. Since 2008, the bank has financed some US$15 billion worth of business in Australia.
Han Ruixiang, head of Australian operations for ICBC, said ICBC plans to remain in the market for corporate banking instead of competing against Australia's leading domestic retail banks.
'We have a strong interest in resource deals but we're not focusing only on them. As a commercial bank we lend across the board,' Han said.
Another Big Four bank, China Construction Bank Corporation, has made its entry into the Australian loan market with US$80 million of debt on its books by 3 April compared to nothing in 2011. Another Big Four player, Bank of China Ltd., increased its gross loans and advances by a quarter to US$5.12 billion in April.
State-owned Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China’s biggest bank and the most profitable in the world, has lent US$860 million, up almost a third from a year ago. Since 2008, the bank has financed some US$15 billion worth of business in Australia.
Han Ruixiang, head of Australian operations for ICBC, said ICBC plans to remain in the market for corporate banking instead of competing against Australia's leading domestic retail banks.
'We have a strong interest in resource deals but we're not focusing only on them. As a commercial bank we lend across the board,' Han said.
Another Big Four bank, China Construction Bank Corporation, has made its entry into the Australian loan market with US$80 million of debt on its books by 3 April compared to nothing in 2011. Another Big Four player, Bank of China Ltd., increased its gross loans and advances by a quarter to US$5.12 billion in April.
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