BankAmerica Corp. has arranged a $200 million U.S. commercial paper program for China's state-owned metals and minerals export company.
The program combines two previous commercial paper programs separately arranged in 1996 and 1997 for Minmetals Capitals and Securities Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Metals and Minerals Import and Export Corp.
BankAmerica has issued a letter of credit to support the commercial paper program, which is rated A1-plus/prime 1 by Standard & Poor's Ratings Group and Moody's Investors Service Inc., respectively.
BankAmerica has been steadily building a business arranging U.S. commercial paper programs for Latin American and Asian companies. Minmetals will use the proceeds from the commercial paper program to finance international trade business activities.