Posted on August 28, 2012 by ft.com
China’s top banks are stepping up their lending activities in the US as large US companies diversify their funding sources and seek to penetrate more deeply into the world’s second-largest economy.
Chinese banks’ share of US syndicated lending has risen to 6.1 per cent of the total market so far in 2012, up from 5.1 per cent last year, according to data from Dealogic. So far this year, the total value of syndicated loans from Chinese banks into the US has reached $51bn.
The increased syndicated lending by Chinese banks comes as their balance sheets compare favourably with US counterparts.
Standard & Poor’s last year upgraded the long term credit ratings of Bank of China and China Construction Bank from A- to A. The credit rating agency maintained the rating of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) at A. At the same time, the long-term credit ratings of Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs were cut to A-. (read more)
