China's "Big Four" Banks
| China Construction Bank | |
 | |
| IPO Date: | October, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Shares Outstanding: | 195 billion (H Share) |
| Share Price: | HK$4.83 |
| Market Capitalization: | $120 billion |
| Largest Share Holders: | Central Huijin (70%) Jianyin Investment (10%) Bank of America (10%) Asia Financial Holdings (6%) |
| Bank Of China | |
 | |
| IPO Date: | June, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Shares Outstanding: | 76 billion (H Share) 178 billion (A Share) |
| Share Price: | HK$3.85 (H Share) $4.95 (A Share) |
| Market Capitalization: | $125 billion |
| Largest Share Holders: | Central Huijin (69%) Royal Bank of Scotland (8.3%) Asia Financial Holdings (4.2%) China Social Security Fund (3.4%) UBS AG (1.34%) Asia Development Bank (0.2%) |
| Industrial and Commercial Bank of China | |
 | |
| IPO Date: | October, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Shares Outstanding: | 41 billion (H Share) 300 billion (A Share) |
| Share Price: | HK$4.56 (H Share) $5.14 (A Share) |
| Market Capitalization: | $200 billion |
| Largest Share Holders: | Ministry of Finance (36%) Central Huijin (36%) Goldman Sachs (5%) China Social Security Fund (4%) Allianz (2%) American Express (0.4%) |
| Agricultural Bank of China | |
 | |
| Planed IPO : | 2008 |
|---|---|
- Central Huijin Investment is fully owned by Chinese Government. It was created when Ministry of Finance injected massive funds into the banking system in 2002. This means Chinese Government still retains at least 70% shares of all four banks. The IPOs only mark banks' transfermation from SOE (state owned enterprises) into State Controlled Companies.
- Aside from the usual wall street big names (Goldman, BOA, UBS, etc), Singapore Government also has a sizable stake in these Chinese Banks through its investment arm, Temasek Holdings (AFH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek).
- The price discrepancy between A share and H share makes market capitalization calculation difficult. Although representing the same share of ownership, A Share normally trades at a premium above H Share because of capital control. The figures above were derived with H Share price, to be conservative.
- At $200 billion, ICBC is the second largest bank in the world by market capitalization, after Citigroup. The other two banks could also rank in top ten.
