A Chinese consortium including the country’s foreign exchange regulator State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) quietly bought out most of Bank of America’s (BofA; BAC.NYSE, 8648.TYO) stake in China Construction Bank (601939.SH, 0939.HK) last month, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the deal. BofA sold off about half its 10% stake in CCB for US$8.3 billion in order to increase its capital buffer for new regulations in the US. However, the sources said that Beijing pressured the firm not to sell more than half its stake in CCB – although sources said that BofA was not interested in selling the entire position anyway. SAFE’s investment was made through Hopu Capital, a Beijing investment firm, to disguise its role in the purchase. The sovereign wealth funds of Singapore and Qatar also played a role in the consortium.
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