Bank of Communications

Bank of Communication Limited
交通银行股份有限公司

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Type	Public
Traded as	SEHK: 3328, SSE: 601328
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1908
Headquarters	Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Key people	Niu Ximing, Chairman of the Board Peng Chun, President
Products	Insurance
Revenue	$20.274 billion RMB (2007)
Number of employees	79,122 (31 December 2009)
Parent	Chinese Ministry of Finance (26.52%) HKSCC Nominees Limited (21.92%) HSBC (18.63%) (As of 31 December 2011)
Subsidiaries	BOCOM International, BOCOM Insurance, BOCOM Leasing, BOCOM Schroder
Website	www.bankcomm.com

Bank of Communications Limited (BoCom or BoComm) (simplified Chinese: 交通银行; traditional Chinese: 交通銀行; pinyin: Jiāotōng Yínháng; often abbreviated as 交行), founded in 1908, is one of the largest banks in China.

Established in 1908, Bank of Communication claims a long history in China and is one of the banks to have issued banknotes in modern Chinese history. It was listed on the Stock Exchanges of Hong Kong Limited and Shanghai Stock Exchange respectively in June 2005 and May 2007.

History

Before 1949

The Bank of Communication was founded in 1908 and emerged as one of the first few major national and note-issuing banks in the early days of the Republic of China. It was chartered as "the Bank for developing the country's industries". In order to expand business into the overseas area, the Bank opened its first Hong Kong Branch on 27 November 1934.

After 1949

Republic of China

After the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the Bank of Communication, like the Bank of China, was effectively split into two operations, part of it relocating to Taiwan with the Kuomintang government. In Taiwan, the bank is also known as Bank of Transportation (交通銀行, Chiao Tung Bank). It eventually merged with the International Commercial Bank of China (中國國際商業銀行), the renamed Bank of China in Taiwan after its 1971 privatization to become the Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商業銀行).

People's Republic of China

The mainland operation is the current Bank of Communication.

Following the State Council's decision to restructure the Bank in 1986, the Bank was then restructured and re-commenced operations on 1 April 1987. Since then, its Head Office has been relocated from Beijing to Shanghai.

Today

Today, the Bank of Communication is amongst the top 5 leading commercial banks in China and has an extensive network of over 2,800 branches covering over 80 major cities. Apart from Hong Kong, the Bank has also established overseas branches in New York, Tokyo, Singapore and representative offices in London and Frankfurt. As of end-2002, the Bank had over 88,000 employees and a total asset reaching RMB 5.15 trillion.

Bank of Communication currently possesses 128 domestic organs including 30 provincial branches, 7 directly-managed branches, 90 sub-branches managed by the provincial branches with 2,643 network organs in over 220 large- and medium-sized cities. In addition, it has established 12 overseas organs including branch banks in Hong Kong, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Frankfurt, Macau, Sydney, and Ho Chi Minh City, BOCOMUK in London, and representative office in Taipei. According to the ranking announced by the British journal “The Banker” concerning 1,000 worldwide banks in 2011, Bank of Communication ranked 35th for its tier l capital, entering the world’s top 50 banks for two consecutive years. Among the World’s Top 500 Enterprises listed by Fortune in 2011, Bank of Communication ranked 397th., up by 43 as compared with 2010 and entering the World’s Top 500 Enterprises for three straight years. Bank of Communication is one of the major financial service suppliers in China with its business scope covering commercial banking, securities, trust, financial leasing, fund management, insurance, offshore financial services, etc.

A sub-branch of the Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch.

Events in 2005

As of January 2005, 19.9% of the bank is owned by HSBC. An HSBC spokeswoman said HSBC Holdings Plc and its 19.9% held Bank of Communication (BoComms) affiliate, would seek to acquire a brokerage to expand their operations in China. The plan was part of HSBC's broader China expansion strategy, but "there is nothing further to disclose at the present." HSBC's operations in China include its own banking operations, its stake in BoCom and an 8% stake in Bank of Shanghai. HSBC also holds a 19.9% stake in Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China through its wholly owned subsidiary HSBC Insurance Holdings. The South China Morning Post today cited Peter Wong Tung-shun, executive director at The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, as saying that the acquisition is being considered in the light of the Chinese government's reforms of the country's securities brokerages. This includes a provision allowing foreign companies to get management control of brokerage firms. Wong did not provide a timetable for any acquisition or identify any acquisition target. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp is a wholly owned HSBC subsidiary.

Events in 2015

July 22, 2015 — Bank of Communications Co. sold $2.45 billion (about 14.93 billion yuan) of Basel III compliant bonds (convertible to preferred stock) “used to replenish the bank’s additional Tier 1 Capital.” The bond is registered on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and pays a coupon of 5 percent a year.

Shareholders

The largest shareholders as of 31 December 2011 are:

1. Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China: 16,413,353,049, 26.52%
2. HKSCC Nominees Limited: 13,564,847,033, 21.92%
3. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation: 11,530,478,263, 18.63%

See also

• Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch
• Communications Clique
• Banking in China
• List of banks in the People's Republic of China