The Bank of China will "certainly" uncover more fraud cases in the near future, the lender's chairman said Thursday, stressing his bank's efforts to improve risk controls.

The bank, which earlier this month raised US$11.2 billion in Hong Kong in the world's biggest initial public offering in six years, is upbeat about its ability to meet its targets and control risks despite credit tightening measures imposed by the central bank, top executives said in a Web cast.

"I am confident that we can meet the operating profit target for 2006," said Li Lihui, the bank's president. "And I hope we can do even better in 2007."

Bank of China is also planning to raise another 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion; euro2 billion) in a share offering in Shanghai that will be mainland China's biggest IPO ever.

The bank's shares will debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on July 5, said the bank's chairman, Xiao Gang.

Bank of China's Hong Kong-traded shares were unchanged Thursday at 3.40 Hong Kong dollars (43 U.S. cents; 34 euro cents).

A series of fraud cases discovered in Bank of China branches has raised worries about the bank's risk management practices.

The bank will "certainly" have more fraud cases in the near future, Xiao said. But he emphasized Bank of China's efforts to improve its risk controls. The bank held a special meeting in May to focus on bill fraud risks after a case involving acceptance bills was discovered earlier this year, he said.

Analysts worry that a flood of cash into the banking system from huge IPOs by China's largest lenders may add to excessive loan growth.

China Construction Bank Corp. raised US$9.7 billion in October and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China is set to beat Bank of China's listing with one of its own in Hong Kong later this year.

New yuan-denominated loans reached half of the central bank's full-year target of 2.5 trillion yuan (US$312 billion; euro247 billion) in the first quarter of this year. China has raised local interest rates and banks' reserve requirements to discourage new loan growth.