A new player in the Citigroup-led bid for an 85% stake in the Guangdong Development Bank (GDB) may face some regulatory hurdles. China Life Insurance has joined the bid and may help deal with Beijing's refusal to raise caps on foreign investment on domestic banks. However, the insurance group's participation may face regulatory problems, the South China Morning Post reported, because the market is not yet used to the idea of financial firms playing more than one role. China Life, the leading life insurer in China, may use its parent firm to invest. The bid from the Citigroup-led group totalled more than US$3 billion for the stake in the 11th-largest commercial lender.
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