Keep an eye on - Stop Press - Bank of China answers charges of corruption with plans for greater transparency - Brief Article

Business Asia, Feb, 2002

The exposure of dodgy dealings in the Bank of China have resulted in a vow from its president, Liu Mingkang, to make the nation's largest foreign exchange bank more transparent to investors. A history of political interference has caught up with the bank, whose recent share sales plans were clouded by the revelation by foreign watchdogs of US$326 million ($641 million) of questionable loans involving the previous president of the bank.

Liu is reported as saying transparency is the key element of the bank's "good corporate governance", and that this transparency is more important than anything else in building a healthy commercial bank. He predicts that in five to seven years Chinese financial institutions will be much "cleaner". Investors are reported as saying they require more than assurances -- asking for a separate investigation into laundering and proof that the bank has broken with its corrupt past.