Bank of China (Hong Kong)

The opening of a branch of the Bank of China in Hong Kong in 1917 marked the entry of state-owned Chinese banks into the then-colony's banking sector. Other banks soon followed suit, starting with Yien Yieh Commercial Bank in 1918. By the time the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, there were 15 branches of state owned Chinese banks in Hong Kong, plus branches of nine Mainland-incorporated banks that were public-private joint ventures. In addition, the Chinese government established Po Sang Bank in 1949 and Nanyang Commercial Bank in 1950. Both of these were incorporated in Hong Kong.

In 1952, the nine public-private banks (namely, Sin Hua Bank Limited, China & South Sea Bank, Kincheng Banking Corporation, China State Bank Limited, The National Commercial Bank Limited, Yien Yieh Commercial Bank, Young Brothers Banking Corporation, Wo Sang Bank and National Industrial Bank of China) were grouped into the Joint Office of Joint Public-Private Banks. The Hong Kong branches of the last three of these nine were closed in 1954 when their parents were shut down by the central government, and management of the remaining six public-private banks were transferred to the Hong Kong and Macau Regional Office of the Bank of China in 1958. The Bank of China later took over management of the Hong Kong branches of Kwangtung Provincial Bank, Hua Chiao Commercial Bank and the Bank of Communications (HKSE: 3328).

In June 1975, the Bank of China moved to increase the capital of the public-private banks. As all of the new capital was from the Chinese government, private ownership in the public-private banks was substantially reduced, in some cases to less than 1%.

The 14 banks were rebranded as part of the Bank of China Group in the 1980s, after a common IT platform was established. Treasury and foreign currency exchange operations were also centralised. However, the individual banks retained their own management. They are now the second largest banking group in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong branch of the Bank of Communications broke off from the Bank of China Group in 1998. The Bank of China Group started to restructure its operations in 1999 in preparation for an initial public offering. All minority shareholders (except for those of Chiyu) were bought out by the Bank of China. Formal plans for a restructuring received the approval of the People's Bank of China and were launched in January 2001.

The restructuring saw all operations of the Mainland-incorporated group members merged into Po Sang Bank, which was then immediately renamed Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited. Hong Kong incorporated Nanyang Commercial Bank and Chiyu Banking Corporation became subsidiaries of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited. Legislation was required for the merger, as Hong Kong does not allow mergers via the pooling of interests, a common procedure in the United States. The Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Ordinance was approved by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong on 12 July 2001, and the merger was completed on 1 October 2001.

BOCHK has been the designated clearing bank for personal transactions involving the Renminbi (CNY, the currency of Mainland China) in Hong Kong since February 2004. This means that BOCHK acts as a settlement agent for RMB banknotes and funds in Hong Kong and an intermediary between banks in Hong Kong and the People's Bank of China, the central bank of the People's Republic of China. In return, BOCHK takes a 0.125% cut of all RMB deposits in Hong Kong that are repatriated back to Mainland China.

The chief executive of Hong Kong announced on 18 November 2003 that the People's Bank of China had agreed to provide clearing arrangements, marking for the first time that the Renminbi, which is fully on the current account but not on the capital account, has been allowed to clear outside of Mainland China. The scope of such RMB business includes deposit-taking, exchange, remittances and RMB cards. Hong Kong banks were invited to apply to become the designated clearing bank for RMB business; the People's Bank of China subsequently chose BOCHK as the clearing bank, for a term of three years.

According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the major responsibilities of the clearing bank are to:

• open RMB settlement accounts for participating banks for the acceptance and withdrawal of RMB funds
• open a settlement account with the PBOC's Shenzhen sub-branch to centralise the acceptance and withdrawal of RMB funds of the Clearing Bank and the participating banks
• collect and distribute RMB banknotes
• provide clearing services for RMB remittances and RMB cards issued by Hong Kong banks
• provide services for the participating banks to square their RMB open positions that result from the exchange of RMB into Hong Kong dollars and vice versa.

Nanyang Commercial Bank branch in Kennedy Town, Hong Kong

Founded in 1950 in Hong Kong, Nanyang Commercial Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of BOCHK, with 42 branches. Nanyang primarily focuses on corporate customers, in particular small and medium-sized trading and manufacturing companies. It also has a loyal following amongst the overseas Chinese community, especially in South East Asia. It relies on BOCHK for back-end office and IT support. In 2007, it took over all of BOCHK's mainland operations, corporate and individual.

Founded by Tan Kah Kee, an overseas Chinese in 1947, Chiyu Banking Corporation Limited has 23 branches in Hong Kong and focuses on serving the community of residents of Fujian descent in Hong Kong.

Chiyu was explicitly created by Chen to create a sustainable business with profits to be devoted to education in Xiamen and the rest of Fujian province in China. Since its founding, it has spent more than HK$1 billion in education in the province, primarily through funding Jimei University and its related schools.

In 2017 BOC (HK) sold Chiyu Bank.

JETCO (Chinese: 銀通) (Joint Electronic Teller Services Limited) is the biggest network of automatic teller machines in Hong Kong and Macau, with nearly 3,000 cash machines.[6] JETCO was founded by BOCHK in 1982 along with the Bank of East Asia, Chekiang First Bank, Shanghai Commercial Bank and Wing Lung Bank, and at present covers all licensed commercial banks in Hong Kong and Macau, except for HSBC and Hang Seng Bank, which has their own system. JETCO's agreement with UnionPay has been terminated due to disagreements, leaving two choices for Hong Kong-based customers: get a UnionPay card, usable like any other on the mainland, or look for a Bank of East Asia ATM (Bank of East Asia has linked all of its mainland-based ATMs into the JETCO network) that can be used like any other JETCO ATM.

BOCHK also owns a travel agency known as BOC Travel Services. This is a legacy from its acquisition of Nanyang Commercial Bank, which ran a travel agency for the convenience of its Southeast Asian customers.

A former CEO of BOCHK, Liu Jinbao, was abruptly transferred back to Beijing to become vice-chairman of Bank of China in May 2003. Investigations subsequently found Liu to have "committed economic crimes" in connection with his previous appointment as the head of the Shanghai branch of the Bank of China. Liu was subsequently dismissed from his post. Liu, along with three other senior managers, were also alleged to have made "unauthorised distribution for personal purposes" of funds belonging to the Bank of China before BOCHK was established. The Standard speculated that the amount involved was HK$30 million.

A special committee appointed by BOC (Hong Kong) Holdings in consultation with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority found that the granting of a HK$1.77 billion bridge loan to Chau Ching-ngai (sometimes referred to as Zhou Zhengyi depending on transliteration), involved risks identified at the start (that) were not addressed adequately and was granted despite serious reservations expressed by the Risk Management Department (BOCHK). Liu Jinbao was criticised by the committee and a deputy CEO, Or Man-ah, took early retirement as a result.