Jan. 16, 2007 (China Knowledge) – China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd. has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to issue up to 3.5 billion A-shares via a private placement, the bank said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE).

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has already approved of Minsheng’s private placement in September.

The names of the investors taking part in this private placement are yet to be known. According to China's regulations on securities issuance, no more than 10 institutional investors can take part in this private placement.

Capital to be raised was reportedly targeted at RMB 13 billion, and will be used to supplement capital and improve the bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR), which was down from 8.26% in January to 7.46% at the end of June, lower than the 8% benchmark set by the CBRC.

Established in Beijing on Jan. 12, 1996, Minsheng bank is a national shareholding commercial bank focused on aiding non-state-owned industrial and commercial enterprises. According to its latest earnings report, net profits reached RMB 1.73 billion during the first half of 2006, a 37% year-on-year increase, while total assets amounted to RMB 625.4 billion.