Bottom line: China needs to accelerate the opening of its banking sector to foreign participation, or risk losing overseas expertise and investment dollars that could revitalize the sector.
BBVA sells down Citic Bank stake
Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) became the latest major foreign bank to check out of China last week, when it sold off half of its stake in Citic Bank, a unit of one of the nation’s leading financial services groups. The move follows a similar series of sales by other major foreign financial firms over the last 5 years, depriving China’s state-run banks of valuable expertise they could have used as they make the transition from their past as policy lenders to more commercially-oriented institutions. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: BBVA’s cut-back in its alliance with Citic represents the latest divorce between western banks and Chinese partners, with little new foreign investment likely in the sector for the next 2-3 years.
BBVA sells stake in Citic unit
A trend that’s been quiet for more than a year has popped back into the headlines, with word that Spain’s second largest bank has dumped its stake in a holding company tied to Chinese financial services conglomerate Citic Group. This particular deal is being driven by a number of factors, including a need for cash by Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA). But the bottom line is that BBVA and other major foreign banks have ended most of their similar alliances with Chinese partners over the last 3 years after such tie-ups failed to produce any strategic benefits. Read Full Post…
