Russia's largest bank to be listed in London

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.