Latham & Watkins and King & Wood Mallesons have advised Chinese lender Huishang Bank Corp on its HK$9.21 billion ($1.2 billion) IPO in Hong Kong.

The offering marks the biggest Hong Kong listing by a bank since Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank raised $1.7 billion in its IPO in September 2010, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Huishang started trading in Hong Kong on Nov. 12, and offered 2.61 billion shares which were priced at HK$3.53 each.

Six cornerstone investors pledged to buy up to $639 million worth of shares in Huishang’s IPO, or about half of the deal size, which is well above the average of 30 percent for Hong Kong IPOs, Reuters reported.

Latham & Watkins Hong Kong-based partners Eugene Lee and Cathy Yeung advised Huishang on the offering, while King & Wood Mallesons advised the Chinese lender on PRC law.

BOC International, CITIC Securities International, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS were hired as sponsors of Huishang’s IPO.

Clifford Chance advised the sponsors, with a team led by Beijing partner Tim Wang and Hong Kong partner Cherry Chan. Shanghai-based capital markets partner Jean Thio advised the banks on U.S. law.

Huishang also tapped another 14 banks, including China International Capital Corp (CICC), Citigroup, Guotai Junan Securities and Nomura, to help manage the offering as joint bookrunners.

The 19 banks working on the deal put it near the record 21 hired by China Galaxy Securities Co Ltd for its $1.1 billion listing in May, underscoring the highly competitive environment for investment banks in Hong Kong.

Huishang’s debut is being closely by other Chinese lenders, including China Everbright Bank, Bank of Beijing and China Guangfa Bank, who are among companies seeking to a raise about $11 billion through Hong Kong offerings in the next 12 months.

Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.