Longtime Chief Leaves C.I.C.C., a Major Chinese Investment Bank

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Levin Zhu, chief executive of China International Capital Corporation.Credit Tyrone Siu/Reuters
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SHANGHAI – The China International Capital Corporation, one of China’s biggest investment banks, said on Tuesday that Levin Zhu, its longtime chief executive and the son of a former Chinese premier, had resigned ahead of a planned initial public offering that was expected this year.

The announcement, in a news release, did not explain the reason for the resignation but said the company’s board had appointed Lin Shoukang, a managing director at the firm, as acting chief executive and chairman of the management committee. The company, based in Beijing, made no mention of a coming initial public offering in Hong Kong or whether the search for a new chief executive would disrupt those plans.

Mr. Zhu, 57, had led C.I.C.C. for more than a decade, helping turn the investment bank into a financial services powerhouse before seeing some of the bank’s influence and market share erode over the last five years amid fierce competition. The resignation of Mr. Zhu comes at a time when China is tightening controls over state-owned companies and pressing them to restructure and drastically reduce the salaries of state employees, even chief executives.

C.I.C.C. is a joint venture formed in 1995 by Morgan Stanley and the China Construction Bank, a state-owned bank. C.I.C.C. went through enormous internal turmoil over who controlled its operations, and Morgan Stanley eventually ceded control to its Chinese partners, including Mr. Zhu.

In 2010, Morgan Stanley sold its stake in C.I.C.C. for about $1 billion to a group of investors, including the American private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG Capital, as well as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. Morgan Stanley originally invested about $34 million in C.I.C.C. to acquire its stake.

The biggest shareholder of C.I.C.C., with a 43.3 percent stake, is Central Huijin Investment, a subsidiary of China’s sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corporation.

The bank began with powerful backers. One of the men who helped set it up was Wang Qishan, then head of the China Construction Bank and now one of seven members of China’s Politburo Standing Committee. He also served as chairman of C.I.C.C. When he stepped down, Zhou Xiaochuan was named chairman of C.I.C.C. Mr. Zhou is now head of China’s central bank.

Three years after the founding of C.I.C.C., Zhu Rongji, the father of Levin Zhu, was named China’s premier, with oversight of the nation’s economy and financial services. Some analysts say a little-known Chinese rule at the time forbade the children of high-ranking Communist Party leaders from working for foreign companies. Levin Zhu, had been working at Credit Suisse First Boston in the United States. He had received a bachelor’s degree from the Nanjing Meteorological Institute and earned a doctorate in atmospheric physics at the University of Wisconsin, as well as a master’s degree from DePaul University in Chicago.

In 1998, just as Zhu Rongji assumed office, Levin Zhu returned to China and took a position at C.I.C.C. In 2003, Levin Zhu was named chief executive of the bank.

Some analysts expect C.I.C.C. to be valued at $3 billion if the company lists in Hong Kong. Although C.I.C.C. remains a powerhouse, it has slipped in the rankings in underwriting I.P.O.s in Hong Kong in recent years, according to Bloomberg.

In its statement on Tuesday, C.I.C.C. said its board had expressed the ‘‘utmost gratitude’’ to Mr. Zhu for his service over the last 16 years, during which C.I.C.C. established itself as a premier investment bank with international standards.