ABC seeks foreign help for new investment division

Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) has set up an investment banking division and is looking for foreign partners to help it succeed, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing state media. On the lender's website, bank president Xiang Junbo said ABC had signed a memorandum of understanding with French lender Credit Agricole SA, though no further details were specified. Restructuring moves such as this, as well as an upcoming capital injection from China Huijin Investment, are part of a larger internal overhaul in order to publicly list shares of ABC, the only of the "Big Four" state-owned banks not to have been listed.