Two more foreign investors in Chinese banks are expected to cash in lucrative stakes and raise a total of more than $2bn this week as a lock-in period ends for their holdings in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Allianz, the German insurer, holds nearly 2 per cent of ICBC, while American Express, the US financial group, owns 0.4 per cent, and each is free to offload half of their holding as early as tomorrow.
The remaining shares can be sold in October. Such a sale would raise a combined $2.1bn, based on the bank's closing share price in Hong Kong on Friday. People familiar with the situation expect Allianz and American Express to waste little time in selling the maximum number of shares permitted.