Akbar Poonawala, head of global equity services at Deutsche Bank, said: "We are delighted to be acting as depositary bank on the American depositary receipt (ADR) program and we very much look forward to working with Gemalto and ensuring that the company and its ADR investors receive the highest level of service."

Jacques Tierny, CFO at Gemalto, said: "We are delighted to have appointed Deutsche Bank to manage our ADR program and look forward to working with the global team to develop our ADR program."

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Meanwhile, the Dutch Finance Ministry said the German bank will pay ABN EUR700m for its assets.

ABN will have to sell its bank HBU and several business offices under the EU competition body's requirement for an antitrust clearance of its merger with Fortis Bank Netherlands.

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After the deal, the Deutsche Bank will become Hua Xia Bank's largest holder with a total stake of 17.12 per cent, replacing the Shougang Group who holds a 13.98 per cent stake in the bank.

The Deutsche Bank aims to hold the Hua Xia Bank's equity for the long term, and will add to its holdings at the proper time. However, the Deutsche Bank said it has no plan to acquire more of its shares within 12 months, and it does not intend to make major adjustments on the core businesses of Hua Xia Bank.

China's banking regulatory authorities permit overseas investors to hold a maximum of 20 per cent of domestic banks' shares.

The Deutsche Bank purchased 9.9 per cent of Hua Xia Bank's shares at two billion yuan (US$293 million) in 2005, and further upped its holding to 13.69 per cent for 3.9 billion yuan via private placement in 2008.

(XIC) rw

If successful, Deutsche Bank will directly and indirectly takes a 17.12% stake in Hua Xia Bank, higher than the holdings of the Shanghai-listed bank's current first-largest shareholder Shougang Group.

Deutsche Bank will not become Hua Xia Bank's controlling shareholder and after the deal, Hua Xia Bank will have neither controlling shareholder nor actual controller as usual. The bank's operation guideline, development direction, and governance structure will not change.

Although Shougang Group support the deal under an investor interest agreement signed in October 2005, it will take measures to keep its position. Shougang Group will be likely to buy Hua Xia Bank shares from other state-owned shareholders or lift its holdings via a private placement, noted an analyst.

Source: www.nbd.com.cn (November 20, 2009)