China's CDB says has dealt with misused loans
BEIJING, Sept 4 (Reuters) - China Development Bank (CDB), a state lender with a roughly 3 percent stake in Barclays (BARC.L), said on Thursday it had corrected most of its errors unearthed in a recent government audit.
The National Audit Office said last week that it had found CDB to have illegally granted 9.1 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) in loans last year.
It said the bank was also responsible for 24.6 billion yuan in misused loans, of which 5.8 billion yuan had been illicitly invested in stocks and property.
CDB, a policy bank, is meant to extend credit only for projects in line with the government's economic priorities.
An unnamed official in charge of the issue at the bank told the official People's Daily that it had called back 86 percent of the illegally extended loans and "corrected" all the loans that were misused in the securities and housing markets.
The official also promised to step up the bank's management and risk controls.
CDB, one of three policy lenders in the country, is in the process of shareholding reform and shifting towards a commercial business model.
It has also been aggressively making overseas forays. The bank was reported to have recently expressed interest in buying Germany's Dresdner Bank, though its bid failed. (Reporting by Eadie Chen; Editing by Ken Wills) (eadie.chen@reuters.com; +8610 6627 1268; Reuters Messaging: eadie.chen.reuters.com@reuters.net))
