Urban Banks Suddenly Tap Fund-Raising Brakes

Most of China's urban commercial banks (UBCs) have been jockeying for a chance to launch initial public offerings, but regulatory limits and market factors may prevent most from joining this year's race to the stock market.

Officials at regulatory authorities, banks and investment banks told Caixin that a number of UCBs may fail to reach the market this year, as hoped, due to restrictions on employee shareholding, negative reactions among regulators toward recent UCB expansions into other cities, and new financial criteria for IPOs expected to be released by the China Banking regulatory Commission (CBRC).