Bank of Communications

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

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)
Total assets	$2110.444 billion RMB (2007)
Number of employees	79,122 (31 December 2009)
Parent	Chinese Ministry of Finance[1] (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; Jiāoháng), founded in 1908, is one of the largest banks in China.

Established in 1908, the Bank of Communications 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 Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2005 and the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May 2007.

History

Before 1949

In 1907, Liang Shiyi proposed the formation of a Bank of Communications to redeem the Beijing–Hankou Railway from its Belgian owners and place the railway under Chinese control.^[2] The Bank of Communications was duly formed in 1908 and provided more than half of the financing needed to buy the railway.^[3] The successful redemption enhanced the prestige of Liang's Communications Clique.

The bank's English name uses the word communications to refer to the linking of two points by a means of transportation.^[4][5] When the Qing Dynasty established the Ministry of Posts and Communications in 1906, the English word communications still carried this meaning.^[6] The word transportation later became the preferred English term, but the Bank retained its original English name.

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 Communications, 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 was also known as the Bank of Communications (Chinese: 交通銀行; Wade–Giles: Chiao-T'ung Yin-hang; Chiao Tung Bank).^[7] 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.

People's Republic of China

The mainland operation is the current Bank of Communications.

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 Communications 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 Communications 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 Communications 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 Communications ranked 397th., up by 43 as compared with 2010 and entering the World’s Top 500 Enterprises for three straight years. Bank of Communications 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 Communications (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^[1] 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

References

1. "Top ten shareholders - Bank of Communications" (PDF). Bank of Communications. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
2. Dayer, Roberta Allbert (1981). Bankers and Diplomats in China, 1917-1925: The Anglo-American Relationship. Abingdon, UK and New York: Frank Cass. p. 22. ISBN 9781135167585. In 1907 Liang Shih-i proposed the establishment of a Bank of Communications which would handle domestic and foreign funds for the redemption of the Peking-Hankow railway.
3. Lee, En-han (1977). China's Quest for Railway Autonomy, 1904-1911: A Study of the Chinese Railway-rights Recovery Movement. Singapore University Press. p. 223. ... three domestic loans of 5,000,000 taels, 1,000,000 taels, and 7,500,000 taels (CH$10,000,000) each, to be made through the Ministry of Finance, the Imperial Bank of China (ta-ch'ing yin-hang) and the Bank of Communications respectively. The loan provided by the Bank of Communications would be repaid by the issuing of internal bonds.
4. "Communication, n.". The Oxford English Dictionary.
5. Trotter, R.A., Captain J. K. (1881). "The Military Prize Essay, 1881. Military Operations in the United Kingdom Considered, Particularly as Influenced by the Enclosed Nature of the Country". The Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. XXV (CIX): 3. Means of Communication. These may be divided into rail communications, road communications, and water communications.
6. "Leading in Relief to Fire Sufferers". Railway World. Philadelphia and New York. L (17): 1. April 27, 1906. At first rail communication on the north of San Francisco over the Southern Pacific was cut off above Santa Rosa, which is sixty miles above the Western metropolis. On the south trains could not run above Fresno.
7. Tsai, Ching-yuan (June 1, 1975). "President C. K. Yen carries on". Taiwan Today. His financial accomplishments included revision of the tax system, budget and foreign exchange reforms, acceleration of economic development, and reactivation of the Central Bank of China, the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications.