Troubled Chinese Lender Writes Off $980 Million of Capital Bonds

(Bloomberg) -- Baoshang Bank, which was taken over by Chinese authorities last year, plans to fully write off a subordinated capital bond after it was deemed a non-viable entity by regulators.

The People’s Bank of China and China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission determined that a “non-viability trigger event” had taken place at the lender, Baoshang Bank said in a company filing dated Nov. 13. It plans to write off a 6.5 billion yuan ($980 million) tier-2 bond and won’t pay the remaining 585.6 million yuan of interest on the note.

Chinese banks started issuing Basel III-compliant tier-2 notes in 2009, which are structured to absorb losses at the point of non-viability, and now have 2.3 trillion yuan of such debt outstanding in the domestic market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

China’s surprise takeover of Baoshang Bank in May last year jolted markets as authorities imposed losses on some creditors, upending long-held assumptions of a government backstop.

The central bank said in April that Huishang Bank and the newly established Mengshang Bank will take over Baoshang Bank’s operations, assets and liabilities. Baoshan will still be responsible for debt of creditors uncovered by the depository insurance system. The lender will be filed for bankruptcy, according to a statement by the central bank in August.

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With assistance from Bloomberg