AGL 39.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.42 (-1.05%)
AIRLINK 131.22 Increased By ▲ 2.16 (1.67%)
BOP 6.81 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.89%)
CNERGY 4.71 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (4.9%)
DCL 8.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.29%)
DFML 41.47 Increased By ▲ 0.65 (1.59%)
DGKC 82.09 Increased By ▲ 1.13 (1.4%)
FCCL 33.10 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (1.01%)
FFBL 72.87 Decreased By ▼ -1.56 (-2.1%)
FFL 12.26 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (4.43%)
HUBC 110.74 Increased By ▲ 1.16 (1.06%)
HUMNL 14.51 Increased By ▲ 0.76 (5.53%)
KEL 5.19 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-2.26%)
KOSM 7.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.42%)
MLCF 38.90 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.78%)
NBP 64.01 Increased By ▲ 0.50 (0.79%)
OGDC 192.82 Decreased By ▼ -1.87 (-0.96%)
PAEL 25.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.12%)
PIBTL 7.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.68%)
PPL 154.07 Decreased By ▼ -1.38 (-0.89%)
PRL 25.83 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.16%)
PTC 17.81 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (1.77%)
SEARL 82.30 Increased By ▲ 3.65 (4.64%)
TELE 7.76 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.27%)
TOMCL 33.46 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-0.8%)
TPLP 8.49 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (1.07%)
TREET 16.62 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (2.15%)
TRG 57.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.82 (-1.41%)
UNITY 27.51 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.07%)
WTL 1.37 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-1.44%)
BR100 10,504 Increased By 59.3 (0.57%)
BR30 31,226 Increased By 36.9 (0.12%)
KSE100 98,080 Increased By 281.6 (0.29%)
KSE30 30,559 Increased By 78 (0.26%)

China CITIC Bank, the country's seventh-largest lender, said on September 25 it plans to cut its exposure to overseas assets and tighten risk controls in response to global credit woes. The financial crisis will impact the bank's profits in both 2008 and 2009, Chief Executive Officer Chen Xiaoxian told Reuters on the sidelines of a banking conference.
"Nobody can tell how long the US financial crisis will last and how big impact it will have on global markets, so it is necessary for us to decisively cut holdings of relevant assets," said Chen.
"The crisis will certainly have a negative impact on our bank's foreign currency assets. If the crisis continues, you will see it will have an even more negative impact on the whole banking industry in China." Chen, who declined to specify the composition of CITIC Bank's overseas assets, said the lender also plans to strengthen risk controls and monitor liquidity more closely.
The banking flagship of China's top financial conglomerate CITIC Group, it has expanded rapidly over the past few years in private banking and wealth management, winning a reputation for innovative derivatives-based products. That strategic shift came in response to macroeconomic controls aimed at cooling banks' loan growth.
Chen said the Beijing-based bank's future wealth management strategy, targeting China's rapidly expanding pool of millionaires, will be designed primarily with "product safety" in mind. In August, CITIC Bank, which is part-owned by Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, posted a 162 percent jump in the first half profit, driven by a surge in fee-based income and lower taxes.
CITIC Bank reported last week it had $76 million of exposure to Lehman Brothers, but no holdings of subordinated bonds issued by the collapsed US investment bank. "We must take lessons from the crisis and be fully aware of investment risks," Chen said.

Copyright Reuters, 2008

Comments

Comments are closed.