China Everbright Bank Co yesterday said it has got regulatory approval for financial restructuring.

"The detailed reorganization plan will be further discussed by and are subject to approval of the board and shareholders," the bank said in a statement on its website, without elaborating.

As early as in December, market sources had said Central Huijin, the central bank's investment arm, would pump 20 billion yuan into the Beijing-based lender to strengthen its balance sheet. But neither of the parties confirmed the move.

Industry analysts believe the long-awaited bailout plan will pave the way for the bank to seek strategic investors and an eventual public listing.

The bank has hired China International Capital Corp and Morgan Stanley to find a foreign strategic investor before its planned initial public offering that may raise at least US$1 billion next year, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

Standard Chartered Plc had been in talks with China Everbright for three years to be a strategic partner but restructuring was a stumbling block.

The complicated shareholding structure and bad assets generated over time makes the bank's restructuring a difficult process, said an analyst who declined to be named.

The bank, 45.6 percent owned by China Everbright Group and its Hong Kong-listed unit, is saddled with debts partly because of its takeover of the troubled China Investment Bank in 1999.

The bank is now one of the weakest among the country's 13 national joint-stock commercial banks, with a non-performing loan ratio of over 6 percent at the end of 2006, compared with the average of 3 percent for the 13 banks.

If the bailout plan goes through, the bank may get listed as early as next year, the analyst said.

The bank is likely to be a good target for foreign investors for its scale and geographical reach in the country.

Total assets of the bank stood at 595.1 billion yuan at the end of last year and net profit for 2006 increased 22 percent to 2.76 billion yuan.

(China Daily August 9, 2007)