IPO closure threatens banks' listing plans

Getting listed on the stock market appears to be impossible for urban commercial banks in the near future, as the IPO market’s temporary closure continues.

After waiting six years, Sheng Jin Bank is going to discuss on March 24 suspending its plan to list in the A-share market.

A few days ago, Bank of Jiangsu officials met with shareholders about possibly postponing that bank’s own such plan.

Seven out of 15 rural commercial banks and urban commercial banks that are seeking a listing have already made announcements about delays in their plans, and two of them modified their listing proposals, according to China Business News.

“That so many urban commercial banks postponed their plans on getting listed indicates that if the IPO market doesn’t resume soon, they won’t be able to get listed,” said a senior management officer at a PE company in Shenzhen.

During the recent two sessions held in Beijing, Yao Gang, the vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said that IPO market will not be relaunched until the processes of self-examination and select examination is complete.

However, certain commercial banks have made adjustments to find new paths into the market.

The Bank of Chongqing changed its plan from getting listed in A-share market to enter both the A-share and H-share markets, while rural commercial banks in Changshu and Wujiang also changed their plans similarly.

“Investors can try to enter the H-share market, which probably won’t gather much financial support from banks,” said the PE company management officer from Shenzhen.