HSBC has announced the launch of a wide range of Renminbi (RMB) internet banking services for commercial banking customers from 12 July 2010.

ICBC has announced that its Personal Internet Banking customer base reached 70.8 million to the end of September 2009.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) has successfully completed the first RMB-denominated trade transaction and opened the first Renminbi (RMB) account under its pilot run. This is the first cross-border trade settlement in RMB by a Singapore bank.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Middle East) Limited was officially opened on 20th October in Dubai, UAE. It is the first wholly-owned subsidiary bank established in the Middle East by Chinese banks.

Citibank China says it has received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission Hubei Branch to establish two new lending companies. This marks the first time an international bank has received permission to establish the lending company model in China.

Bank of China has signed a long-term strategic investment and business cooperation agreement with La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild (LCFR) to acquire a 20% stake in LCFR. This is the first strategic investment by a leading Chinese bank in a Eurozone bank.

On July 14 China Merchants Bank (CMB) was presented with an official banking license by New York State Superintendent of Banking Richard H. Neiman, becoming the first Chinese bank to receive a banking license in the United States since the adoption of the Foreign Bank Supervision Enhancement Act of 1991.

BBVA and CITIC have formed a new agreement under the umbrella of their strategic collaboration. BBVA will increase its stake in CITIC International Financial Holdings Ltd, (CIFH), a company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, to 30%, and to lift its interest, direct and indirect, in Chinese financial entity, China Citic Bank (CNCB), to approximately 10.07%.

Citi China says it has been voted No.1 Trading Bank and No. 1 Trading Bank for Derivatives in 2007 China Foreign Exchange Trade System Poll (CFETS). Citi China was also named by members of CFETS as the leading market maker for foreign currency pairs in the poll.

Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has granted approval to a proposal submitted by Fubon Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Fubon Financial Holding to invest US$34 million to acquire a 20% stake in a commercial bank in Xiamen city, in mainland China’s southeastern province of Fujian, according to CNANews.