Minsheng gets greenlight to buy into UCBH

China Minsheng Banking Corp announced on Saturday that the China Banking Regulatory Commission had approved its proposal to buy 4.9 percent of the US-based UCBH Holdings.

The deal involved $95 million and the mid-sized bank had completed the remittance approval procedure in the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, it said in a statement.

China Minsheng announced in October last year that by June next year it would take up to a 20-percent stake in UCBH, the holding company of the US-based United Commercial Bank, which primarily serves Chinese communities and American companies doing business in China.

The deal marks the first strategic investment in a banking institution in the United States by a Chinese mainland bank, said a statement from UCBH Holdings.

The purchase is expected to help China Minsheng improve its asset management and develop a full range of financial services.

Shares of China Minsheng closed 1.41 percent higher at 13.71 yuan ($1.93) on Friday in Shanghai

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