BOCOM surprises with fundraising round

China's fifth-largest lender unveiled plans to raise US$890 million from mainland investors to fund fast growth in loans. The <i>Financial Times</i> said the announcement Friday from Bank of Communications (BOCOM) surprised analysts. The fundraising would include an A-share listing in Shanghai. The bank plans to seek approval to issue 4.5 billion new A-shares and seek the green light from shareholders to sell US$3.2 billion in non-listed subordinated bonds in the mainland. HSBC, which owns 20% of BOCOM and could see its stake diluted if the share sale goes through, declined to comment on Friday. An initial public offering in Hong Kong last year raised US$2.2 billion. The bank's capitalisation is US$43 billion, the newspaper reported.