bbva

The latest step in its long-running divorce of China's 7th biggest bank. The buyer of the 4.9% stake is Chinese property firm Xinhu Zhongbao.

Spanish lender offloads a 5.1% stake in its Chinese counterpart for $1.27 billion, the latest western bank to cut back its China exposure in an effort to raise funds.

Paul Lai joins the Spanish bank from CLSA where he was head of Hong Kong and Greater China investment banking.

The Spanish bank pays $1.24 billion to buy an additional 15% of Citic Holdings and a further 5% in Citic Bank and makes a delisting of Citic Holdings a condition of the deal.

The Spanish bank acquires 5% of China Citic Bank and 15% of Citic International Financial Holdings for $1.27 billion.