Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, may be listed on the London Stock Exchange early next year.
According to the business daily Vedomosti, Sberbank aims to raise up to $US 1.5 billion through the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts on the LSE. The paper quoted banking sources saying that Sberbank began talks in September with Merrill Lynch to organize a secondary public offering. Sberbank aims to float GDRs on existing shares and may buy back its shares from minority shareholders soon. Earlier this year Sberbank raised $US8.8 billion on the domestic markets to recapitalize its balance sheet and finance lending growth.