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US panel seeks scrutiny of fundraising by China firms

REUTERS, Washington
US regulators must tighten scrutiny of Chinese state-owned firms that plan to raise funds in American markets to protect investors, members of key Congressional advisory panel said Thursday.
Richard D'Amato, chairman of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said an expected new wave of Chinese listings posed a threat of a "China bubble" that would burn investors like the earlier technology share meltdown.
Chinese state-owned enterprises had a reputation for poor transparency and accountability, including big state banks expected to seek listings in Hong Kong and New York, he said.
"I am concerned that US investors may not have sufficient information to make informed decisions about the risk of these investments," said D'Amato, whose commission
advises Congress on economic and security aspects of US-China relations.
"Are we going to ratify the system as it exists? Are we going to help reform it?" he said. One proposal floated by the commission was to have the Securities Exchange Commission scrutinise Chinese corporate governance and associated risks.
The commission hearing on China's activities in global capital markets came a week after Chinese oil producer CNOOC Ltd abandoned a $18.5 billion bid to buy the US energy firm Unocal Corp in the face of bitter congressional opposition.
The CNOOC bid, which critics argued represented a Chinese government subsidised effort to capture scarce oil reserves that threatened US security, added heat to a summer of friction with China over textile trade and exchange rates.
The commission, which came out
strongly against the CNOOC transaction, was relatively reserved on Thursday in examining China's banking system.
"As these banks list publicly, (non-market) behaviour needs to be monitored, and at the very least, investors deserve complete disclosure of the non-market forces at work," said Commissioner Michael Wessel.
Key witnesses said China was moving in the right direction in reforming its weak, debt-laden banks by pressing them to meet international capital market standards.
China has been racing to overhaul state banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank, through planned listings and foreign tie-ups to prepare for the partial opening of the domestic banking market in late 2006 under China's World Trade Organisation pledges.