International best practices, domestic constraints and international listing: evidence from China's state banking sector

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to gauge the extent to which Chinese state-owned commercial banks are converging with international best banking and corporate governance practices, with a particular focus on the policy of international listing given its recent popularity. Drawing on the international listings of China's state-owned banks on the Hong Kong stock market, the paper finds that formal convergence is possible to achieve. More difficult to achieve is substantive convergence. In general, the findings suggest that the domestic institutional framework still matters, but what may matter more is that banks have the autonomy to integrate best-practices in a manner consistent with domestic conditions.