HSBC appoints advisors for Shanghai listing

HSBC has appointed China International Capital Corp (CICC) and CITIC Securities as advisors for its Shanghai share listing, Bloomberg reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. A Hong Kong-based spokesman for the bank confirmed that advisors had been chosen, but gave no further details. HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank by value, hopes to become the first foreign company to sell shares in Shanghai. One of the people who named the advisors said the bank may raise US$5 billion in the second half of 2010. A local listing would enable HSBC to increase renminbi loans and roll out credit card operations more quickly. As Shanghai-listed shares typically trade at a premium to those in Hong Kong, the bank would also be in a position to raise capital more cheaply. Standard Chartered said in June that it planned to raise as much as US$512 million through the sale of renminbi-denominated bonds on China’s interbank market.