Wednesday’s Headlines: Chinese Banks Step Up Lending in the U.S.

China doesn’t just make the goods sold in Wal-Mart. The country is also financing that and other U.S. corporations, the Financial Times reports. Chinese banks’ share of U.S. syndicated lending has risen to 6.1 percent of the total market so far in 2012, up from 5.1 percent last year.

While cutting long-term credit ratings at Bank of America, Citi and Goldman, Standard & Poor’s last year upgraded the credit ratings of Bank of China and China Construction Bank from A- to A and maintained the rating of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China at A.

Recent deals include Bank of China’s participation in a $1.4 billion syndicated loan to medical device firm Zimmer Holdings; Bank of East Asia is part of a $575 million syndication to wine and beer group Constellation Brands; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China took part in an $11.8 billion syndicated loan for Wal-Mart; ICBC lends to UBS, Pfizer and Dell; and last year ICBC, Bank of China and China Merchant Bank participated in a $6 billion syndicated loan to Duke Energy.

U.S. multinational say that dealing with Chinese banks makes it easier to do business in local currency in that country. CCB’s head of corporate banking told the paper: “There’s a global relocation of capital from the west to the east. This is an evolution process. Nowadays, the Brics banks [in Brazil, Russia, India and China] have a seat at the table.”

 

Other News:

Loans at banks grew for a second quarter. [WSJ]

Bank Q2 profits are down over Q1 on lower interest, but up year-over-year. [Fortune]

Feds charge eight in Georgia with insider trading related to the Sanofi-Aventis deal. [DealBook]

Research shows small lenders drag on small business credit. [Bloomberg]

Thirty-minute interview with Prudential Real Estate Investors chief J. Allen Smith. [NY Times]