Chinese Banks ‘Built on Quicksand’ With Bad Loans, Chanos Says
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Chinese banks are “extremely fragile” because the lenders don’t have enough capital to offset bad loans, said Jim Chanos, president and founder of the $6 billion hedge fund Kynikos Associates Ltd.
Chinese lenders are saddled with non-performing loans accumulated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Chanos, the short seller who predicted the collapse of Enron Corp. in 2001, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television yesterday. The banks are failing to recognize the losses on the bad loans and have carried out a lending binge since 2008, said Chanos.