Report shows Chinese banks lack transparency

Transparency International ranked Chinese banks at or near the bottom of a list of 105 international firms ranked for transparency.

Among the four Chinese major banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the country's largest lender, was 76th, the highest-ranked of the four. Out of 24 financial firms surveyed, the bottom three were state-owned Chinese banks ? China Construction Bank Corp., Bank of Communications Co. and Bank of China Ltd., with the latter two comprising the bottom of the broader list.

The highest-ranked Chinese company is PetroChina, but still ranked 69th on the list.

The list assessed transparency of the 105 biggest companies by market capitalization as reported by Forbes Magazine. The firms make up more than US$11 trillion in total value and touch the lives of people in virtually every country around the globe. Criteria for evaluation included disclosure of anti-corruption measures, corporate structures, tax payments and revenues.

According to the report, Norway's Statoil ASA held the first place, scoring an index of 8.3 out of 10, followed by Anglo-Australian miners Rio Tinto PLC and BHP Billiton PLC.

Transparency International also indicated that there were 78 of the world's largest companies operating in China, but only 12 of them disclosed revenue and sales via their website and only 2 of them disclosed the income taxes which they paid to country. In the anti-corruption program rankings with 100 percent indicating full transparency, Bank of China and Bank of Communications were given 0 percent, and ICBC was given 15 percent.

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