Troubled Hengfeng Bank Takes Step Closer to Restructuring

China’s banking regulator has signed off on Hengfeng Bank Co. Ltd.’s request to increase its registered capital, according to an official statement, paving the way for the troubled lender’s restructuring.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has given Hengfeng Bank approval to increase its registered capital to 11.2 billion yuan ($1.58 billion) from 1.7 billion yuan in 2008 (link in Chinese), according to a release (link in Chinese) that the CBIRC published earlier this month.