StanChart eyes China as next target in listings

Lender looks forward to a Shanghai listing after completing one in India as it exploits country's growth.

Standard Chartered is likely to set its sights on a share listing in China once it has completed a ground-breaking flotation in India this month.

The move will intensify competition between Standard Chartered and its larger rival HSBC, which has hoped for years to list its shares on China's fast-growing Shanghai exchange.

Peter Sands, chief executive of Standard Chartered — who was in Mumbai last week to launch the Indian offer — said that the emerging markets bank "would look at a listing in Shanghai."

A race is on among international companies to be the first to list in China, where the economy is set to grow this year by 10 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund. All have been stymied so far by the pace at which the country's authorities are opening up its markets. Mr Sands said some big companies' hopes that a listing might be possible in the second half of this year were misplaced. "I've always been of the view that it is some time off. I doubt it will be in the second half," he said.

View the full story in Times Online.