Deutsche in, Goldman out of ICBC party

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has added Deutsche Bank to its list of book-runners for its planned US$15 billion Hong Kong IPO, but former frontrunner Goldman Sachs has controversially been excluded, the South China Morning Post reported. The nation’s largest lender said in a bank statement yesterday it had also given mandates to Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley’s mainland joint venture China International Capital Corp, Credit Suisse and ICEA, its own Hong Kong investment banking unit. In a bitter twist for Goldman Sachs, rival Morgan Stanley was awarded an as yet unknown role. Beijing directed the ICBC to exclude Goldman, which recently invested $2.6bn for a 7% stake in the lender, amid concerns of conflict of interest and confidentiality risks.