New faces in ICBC boardroom

Former Goldman Sachs president John Thornton and ex-Hong Kong financial secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung are to be appointed independent directors of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the South China Morning Post reported. It is hoped their international banking experience will help ICBC through a key foreign stock market listing as soon as next year. The bank, which is expected to launch a listing vehicle on Friday, has gone through massive financial restructuring involving a state capital injection of US$15 billion and the removal of US$87 billion of non-performing loans.