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.

Yucheng Technologies has signed a partnership agreement with China Financial Certification Authority (CFCA) to jointly launch an e-banking Application Service Provider (ASP) platform to serve city commercial banks and city/rural credit unions in China.

On March 19 Deutsche Bank announced that it had signed a binding agreement to subscribe to approximately 265.6 million newly issued shares in HuaXia Bank for a total subscription price of RMB 3,909 million (approx. EUR 349 million). Deutsche Bank’s subscription is part of a private placement of HuaXia Bank shares to its three largest shareholders with an overall issuance value of RMB 11.6 billion (approx. EUR 1.0 billion). Subject to regulatory approvals, this investment will increase Deutsche Bank’s equity stake in HuaXia Bank to 13.7% of issued capital from 9.9% previously.

UCBH Holdings, Inc. has announced the opening of United Commercial Bank (China) Limited (UCBC). United Commercial Bank (UCB), a subsidiary of UCBH Holdings, completed the acquisition of Business Development Bank Ltd. (BDB) in December 2007 and renamed it to UCBC, which now operates as a subsidiary of UCB. Headquartered in Shanghai, UCBC has branch in Shantou and representative offices in Beijing and Guangzhou.