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The Mega International Commercial Bank () is a bank in Taiwan and a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of Mega Financial Holding Company. It has 108 branches (including foreign department) in Taiwan and 37 overseas units (excluding offshore banking branch). The bank is the sole domestic US dollar/Euro settlement bank designated by the Bankers Association.


History

Mega International Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. was founded from the
merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
of the historic International Commercial Bank of China () and Chiao Tung Bank ().


Roots in Mainland China

The International Commercial Bank of China was the name by which the
Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ) is a Chinese majority state-owned commercial bank headquartered in Beijing and the fourth largest bank in the world. The Bank of China was founded in 1912 by the Republican government as China's central bank, repl ...
came to be known after its privatization in Taiwan in 1971. The Bank of China's reserves had been transferred from mainland China to Taiwan prior to the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
's takeover of the mainland in 1949. Like most banks, the Bank of China was not immediately allowed to resume operations in Taiwan.


Bank of China

The Bank of China began as the '' Hubu'' (Financial Department) Bank of the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
. It came to be known as the Ta Ch'ing Bank before being renamed Bank of China after the establishment of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
in 1912. The bank's headquarters were at 3 Hank'ou Road in the
International Settlement of Shanghai The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction ...
. The bank, which was authorized to issue banknotes, broke free from the Yuan Shih-k'ai government's control in 1916 under the leadership of
Chang Kia-ngau Chang Kia-ngau (; 1889–1979), courtesy name Gōngquán (公权), was a Chinese banker, politician, and scholar. He was an influential figure in the history of modern Chinese central bank. Biography Chang was born in 1889 in Jiading outside of ...
, and became a private, merchant-owned bank in 1923 when the cash-strapped
Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
government sold all but a symbolic number of its shares to private investors. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Bank of China was by far the largest bank in China. In 1928, the Bank of China funded the government's creation of the
Central Bank of China Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
, and in exchange was allowed to remain independent. It was also chartered to serve as the nation's international exchange bank and was entrusted with efforts toward the promotion of foreign trade, the supply of foreign exchange, and the general financing of home industries.


Chiao Tung Bank

The Chiao Tung Bank was a direct successor of the Chiao Tung Bank/
Bank of Communications Bank of Communications Limited (BoComm) (; often abbreviated as ), is the fifth-largest bank in mainland 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 mo ...
established in 1908 during the final years of the Qing era. After the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, the Chiao Tung Bank was authorized to issue
banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...
s backed by
silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
reserves. Government ownership of the bank was reduced to a minority during the instability of the Yuan Shih-k'ai regime and the Northern Warlords era. The bank financed the creation of the
Central Bank of China Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
in 1928 and was considered one of the Republic of China's top four banks.


Before the 1949 Revolution

The Bank of China and the Chiao Tung Bank both quickly became government-owned during the Shanghai financial crisis of 1935. Finance Minister
H.H. Kung Kung Hsiang-hsi (; 11 September 1881 – 16 August 1967), often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, was a Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century. He married Soong Ai-ling, the eldest of the three Soong sisters; the other two married Pres ...
, who had worked to erode the independence of Shanghai's powerful bankers, forced both banks to create new shares that gave the government majority ownership. These new shares were purchased through overvalued
government bond A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of bond issued by a government to support public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called coupon payments'','' and to repay the face value on the maturity date ...
s meant to finance the government's deficit and increase the Central Bank of China's capital.


After the 1949 Revolution

After the 1949 establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland, both banks' operations were split, though their management and most liquid assets were transferred to Taiwan. They were not immediately permitted to resume operations in Taiwan given the uncertain situation in the early 1950s. Both banks' assets on the mainland were seized by the Communist Party, which severely limited banking until the 1980s. The Bank of China's branches in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, and the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
remained under the
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
-based ICBC, while other branches in Asia, including
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, came under the PRC-controlled Bank of China. A new
Bank of Communications Bank of Communications Limited (BoComm) (; often abbreviated as ), is the fifth-largest bank in mainland 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 mo ...
was established in the PRC in 1987. During the mid to late 1990s, many state-owned financial institutions in Taiwan were restructured and merged for greater efficiency. The Chiao Tung Bank was privatized in 1999, then underwent a series of consolidations. In 2002, it was merged with the International Commercial Bank of China under a single financial holding, which in 2006 came to be consolidated into a single bank—the Mega International Commercial Bank. It was argued at the time that the bank's former initials, ICBC, could lend it to be confused with the
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC; ) is a Chinese multinational bank. Founded as a limited company on 1 January 1984, ICBC is a state-owned commercial bank. With capital provided by the Ministry of Finance of China, the ...
. However, the re-branding was controversial in Taiwan as many saw the change as a costly exercise meant to remove any reference to China from its name. In March and April 2008, Mega International Commercial Bank was featured prominently in Taiwanese news because the wife of president-elect
Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...
, Christine Chow, had declared her intention to continue working as the bank's legal counsel. In May 2008, she was permitted to retire from the bank. In August 2016, in the wake of the
Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...
scandal, the bank was fined $180 million for violating laws against
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
by a
New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
regulators in the US, which described its compliance program as a "hollow shell". The bank entered into a consent order entered into New York's Department of Financial Services to correct admitted violations, "including engaging an independent monitor to address serious deficiencies within the bank's compliance program and implement effective anti-money laundering controls." Former President
Lee Tung-hui Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...
assigned blame for this malfeasance to
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
officials who had run the bank for decades.


Overseas units

USA *New York Branch *Los Angeles Branch *Chicago Branch *Silicon Valley Branch Panama *Panama Branch Canada *Canada Branch-Vancouver Office *Canada Branch-Toronto Principal office Japan *Tokyo Branch *Osaka Branch Philippines *Manila Branch Vietnam *Ho Chi Minh City Branch *Haiphong Representative Office Cambodia *Phnom Penh Branch **Phnom Penh Airport Sub-Branch **Olympic Sub-Branch **Tuol Kouk Sub-Branch **Chamkar Mon Sub-Branch **Ta Khmau Sub-Branch (In Preparation) Myanmar *Yangon Branch Singapore *Singapore Branch Malaysia *Laban Branch **Kuala Lumpur Marketing Office Hongkong *Hong Kong Branch China *Suzhou Branch **Wujiang Sub-Branch *Ningbo Branch **Kunshan Sub-Branch India *Mumbai Representative Office Indonesia *Indonesia Representative Office (In Preparation) Thailand *Mega International Commercial Bank Public Co., Ltd.(Thailand) **Chonburi Branch **Bangna Branch **Ban Pong Branch **Rayong Branch Australia *Sydney Branch *Brisbane Branch *Melbourne Branch France *Paris Branch Netherlands *Amsterdam Branch England *London Branch


Corporate structure

*Mega International Commercial Bank consists of seven groups of businesses: **Corporate Banking Group **Retail Banking Group **Investment Banking Group **Financial Market Group **Planning & Information Group **Risk Management Group **Administration Group *There are a total of eight committees: **Loan Committee **Investment Committee **Problem Loan Committee **Fund Management Committee **Assets & Liabilities Management Committee **Trust Assets Screening Committee **Personnel Appraisal Committee **Occupational Safety & Health Committee


See also

*
List of banks in Taiwan This is a list of banks in Taiwan, including the government-owned banks of the Taiwan. Central Bank * Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Governmental institutions Existing National Institutions * Agricultural Bank of Taiwan * ...
*
Economy of Taiwan The economy of Taiwan is a highly developed market economy. It is the 8th largest in Asia and 18th-largest in the world by purchasing power parity, allowing Taiwan to be included in the advanced economies group by the International Monetary F ...
*
List of companies of Taiwan Taiwan maintains a stable industrial economy as a result of economic growth and industrialization during the late 20th century, being dubbed as one of the Four Asian Tigers along with Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. It is a member of both ...


References


External links

*
Mega Financial Holding Co., LTD

{{Authority control Taiwanese companies established in 2002 Banks established in 2002 Banks of Taiwan Companies based in Taipei Taiwanese brands