(7 November 2006 – China) Standard Chartered China investment Bohai Bank is set to expand its footprint with four new branches planned amid ambitions for much more.Standard Chartered paid some US$120 million for a 19.9 percent stake in Bohai last year. Under current regulations foreign investors can only own a maximum of 19.9 percent of a Chinese bank.
The Tianjin city government is the largest shareholder owing a quarter of all shares in Bohai.
Bohai is the newest commercial lender in China, and the first to be created in almost 10 years. It aims to open four new branches before the end of this year and hopes China’s banking regulator will allow it to speed up its expansion plans.