Banking News
- BBVA, CITIC Bank may set up ventures
Date: 28-Jun-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
SPANISH bank BBVA hopes to set up a range of ventures with its Chinese partner, China CITIC Bank, including making auto loans and marketing a China fund in Europe, senior officials said yesterday.
BBVA chairman Francisco Gonzalez described BBVA's recently forged partnership with CITIC Bank, the mainland's seventh-largest lender, and its international arm as a chance to make rapid inroads into Asia.
'CITIC offers us a unique opportunity to set foot in this part of the world,'said Gonzalez, who is in Beijing for BBVA's first board meeting to be held in China.
'We will need to play a major role in Asia and China, as this is where the growth will be in the future,'he said.
As part of those efforts, Spain's second-largest bank would use its partnership with CITIC Bank to enter areas such as credit cards and private banking.
BBVA, already well established in South America and Mexico, would also use its tie-up with Hong Kong-listed CITIC International Financial Holdings Ltd. to develop its wholesale business in Asia ex-India, he said.
Private equity was another possible area for cooperation.
By working with CITIC, BBVA hopes to capture profits arising from outbound Chinese investment flows while helping outsiders get a toe-hold in the mainland market.
Officials said BBVA hoped to launch a fund in Spain in September that would invest in Chinese assets. No details were immediately available on the size of the fund, which would be managed by CITIC Capital.
BBVA was also interested in a license to invest in Chinese equities through the so-called Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme, said the bank's general manager for Asia, Manuel Galatas.
BBVA agreed in November to buy 5 percent of China CITIC Bank and 15 percent of CITIC International.
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