Join the club

RBS likely surprised nobody with the news that it’s unloading its entire 4.3% stake in Bank of China for as much as US$2.37 billion (and a tidy profit that some put at US$794.3 million). In doing so RBS joins an exclusive club of foreigners bailing on their strategic stakes in Chinese lenders, including the likes of BoA and UBS. Yes, the club is exclusive indeed, but poker night just isn’t what it used to be. Meanwhile China is still interested in investing its money in the US, at least if you believe the head of the supervisory board of the China Investment Corp. He said the US is one of the best partners for China but urged for a restructuring of the US regulatory system. Nonetheless, China’s sovereign wealth funds will still have plenty of cash to play around with. Despite a mysterious drop in foreign exchange reserves in October, the figure rebounded in November and December to end the year at over US$1.9 trillion. A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.