BEIJING (Reuters) - China's first batch of debt-to-equity swaps is expected to "resolve" 1 trillion yuan (109 billion pounds) in potential bad banking debt in three years or less, media group Caixin reported on Monday, citing an unnamed policy banking source.
In a cover story in its weekly magazine, Caixin cited a single "high-level" source at China Development Bank [CHDB.UL], a policy bank under the direct supervision of the State Council, regarding the scope of the programme without stating how the person had knowledge of the plans.
Calls to China Development Bank were not answered. Monday was a state holiday in China.
Last month, people with direct knowledge of the policy told Reuters that China's central bank is drawing up regulations to allow commercial lenders to swap non-performing loans of companies for stakes in those firms.
The programme could reduce commercial banks' non-performing loans, which surged to 1.27 trillion yuan at the end of 2015, although analysts have suggested it will reduce banks' capacity for new lending to stronger borrowers.
Also, many believe that moves to ease bad loan burdens at China's big banks may be of only marginal help in the near term.
Swapping debt into equity in a troubled borrower might get bad loans off lenders' books, but as China Construction Bank <601939.SS> (HK:0939) Chairman Wang Hongzhang warned last month, there was a danger of simply converting "bad debt into bad equity".
The Caixin report, citing several unnamed bankers, said China Development Bank, Bank of China <601988.SS> (HK:3988), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China <601398.SS> (HK:1398), China Merchants Bank <600036.SS> and others had been selected for trial moves in programme's first round of swaps.