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 modern Chinese history. It was listed on

the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is repor ...

in June 2005 and the

Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exc ...

in May 2007. The Bank was ranked No.151 among Fortune Global 500 in terms of operating income by the Fortune and No.11 among the global top 1,000 banks in terms of Tier 1 Capital rated by the London-based magazine

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by ''The Financial Times'' Ltd. and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding Editor, Brend ...

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. The Bank of Communications was duly formed in 1908 and provided more than half of the financing needed to buy the railway. The successful redemption enhanced the prestige of Liang's Communications Clique. The bank's name uses the word "communications" to refer to the linking of two points by a means of transportation. In order to expand the 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 (; Chiao Tung Bank). It eventually merged with the International Commercial Bank of China (), the renamed Bank of China in Taiwan after its 1971 privatization, to become the

Mega International Commercial Bank The Mega International Commercial Bank () is a bank in Taiwan and a subsidiary of Mega Financial Holding Company. It has 108 branches (including foreign department) in Taiwan and 37 overseas units (excluding offshore banking branch). The bank i ...

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 located at 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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, 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 236 domestic organs including 30 provincial branches, 7 directly managed branches, 199 sub-branches managed by the provincial branches with 3,529 network organs in over 239 large- and medium-sized cities. In addition, it has established 21 overseas organs including branch banks in Hong Kong,

, San Francisco, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Frankfurt, Macau,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, 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 2018, Bank of Communications ranked 168th., up by 3 as compared with 2017 and entering the World's Top 500 Enterprises for ten 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.

Events in 2005

, 19.9% of the bank is owned by HSBC Holdings plc. An HSBC spokeswoman said HSBC and its affiliate, the Bank of Communications, 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 the

Bank of Shanghai Bank of Shanghai Co., Ltd. (BOSC) is an urban commercial bank based in Shanghai in China. The bank was ranked 73rd among 1000 banks around the world by ''The Banker'' in terms of their Tier 1 capital in 2020. History The Bank of Shanghai was foun ...

. HSBC also holds a 19.9% shares in Ping An Insurance through its wholly owned subsidiary HSBC Insurance Holdings. The ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'' 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

*Note: H shares trustee: HKSCC Nominees Limited was excluded in the table

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Of Communications Companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Companies in the CSI 100 Index Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Banks of China Banks based in Shanghai Chinese brands Companies in the Hang Seng Index Government-owned companies of China H shares HSBC Banks established in 1908 Chinese companies established in 1908 Re-established companies