The China Securities Regulatory Commission gave its approval to China Everbright Bank Co to hold a share sale overseas. In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Beijing-based lender said it would be selling about 12 billion shares for CNY 1 per share. The share sale would raise up to USD 2 billion for the lender.

China Everbright would then be able to apply for an initial public offering (IPO) with the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The approval of the Hong Kong bourse would still be required before the listing could take place.

In March, the Everbright Bank board approved to sell 12 billion of its shares in Hong Kong. Bloomberg reported that the lender had initially planned to gather up to USD 6 billion from a share sale in Hong Kong. However, the lender reduced the target to only USD 1.7 billion. In August last year, the bank delayed the planned share sale because the capital markets had slowed and bank shares had low market valuations.