During the throes of the 2008 financial crisis, a top Chinese banker told U.S. officials that his company and others in China were interested in taking significant stakes in U.S. banks but expected a backlash from regulators and the American public, according to U.S. diplomatic memos.
The chairman of China Construction Bank, one of the world's largest banks, made the comment during two separate meetings in November 2008, according to State Department cables obtained by McClatchy through WikiLeaks.
At the time, U.S. banks were desperate for capital to absorb losses from mortgage-related investments and rising loan losses. But no Chinese investments were made, apparently because it would have opened the Chinese banks to regulatory scrutiny in the United States.
Still, the memos provide a window into the thinking of Chinese banking officials as their counterparts in the U.S. suffered through an epic financial meltdown. One of the Chinese investment funds eventually won Federal Reserve approval for an investment in New York-based Morgan Stanley, although not until last year.
WikiLeaks: China wanted to invest in U.S. banks during '08 crisis - National Business - MiamiHerald.com
No comments:
Post a Comment