Bank of China - Timeline of Overseas Activities

Timeline of Overseas Activities

• 1917: BOC opened a branch in Hong Kong.
• 1929: BOC opened its first overseas branch in London. The branch managed the government's foreign debt, became a center for the bank's management of its foreign exchange, and acted as an intermediary for China's international trade.
• 1931: BOC opened a branch in Osaka.
• 1936: BOC opened a branch in Singapore to handle remittances to China of overseas Chinese. It also opened an agency in New York.
• 1937: On the outbreak of hostilities with Japan, Japanese forces blockaded China's major ports. BOC opened a number of branches in Batavia, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Haiphong, Hanoi, Rangoon, Bombay, and Calcutta to facilitate the gathering of remittances and the flow of military supplies. It also opened sub-agencies in Surabaya, Medan, Dabo, Xiaobo, Batu Pahat, Baichilu, Mandalay, Lashio, Ipoh, and Seremban.
• 1941-1942: The Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia forced BOC to close all overseas its branches, agencies, sub-branches and sub-agencies, except London, New York, Calcutta, and Bombay. Nevertheless, in 1942, it manages to set up six new overseas branches, such as in Sydney, (Australia), Liverpool, and Havana, and possibly Karachi.
• 1946: BOC reopened its branches and agencies in Hong Kong, Singapore, Haiphong, Rangoon, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Jakarta. It moved the Hanoi agency to Saigon. At the suggestion of the Allied Forces Headquarters, it liquidated the branch in Osaka and opened a sub-branch in Tokyo.
• 1947: BOC opened agencies in Bangkok, Chittagong, and Tokyo.
• 1950: After victory of Communist forces in the civil war, some branches (ex. Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Calcutta, Bombay, Chittagong, Karachi, and Jakarta) of Bank of China joined the bank headquartered in Beijing, while others (ex. New York, Tokyo, Havana, Bangkok, and one other, possibly Panama) opted to remain with the Bank of China headquartered in Taipei. In 1971, this bank took the name International Commercial Bank of China.
• 1963: The Burmese government nationalized all banks, foreign and domestic, including the Bank of China's Rangoon branch.
• 1971: The Bank of China transferred its two branches in Karachi and Chittagong to the National Bank of Pakistan.
• 1975: The People's Republic of Vietnam nationalized the Bank of China's branch in Saigon and the Khmer Rouge government nationalized its Phnom Penh branch.
• 1981: BOC opened a branch in New York.
• 2001: Kwangtung Provincial Bank was closed and merged under Bank of China, Singapore Branch.
• 2002: Bank of China Futures Pte Ltd wound up operations in Singapore.
• 2005: In the runup to its initial public offering, BOC solicited long term investors to take strategic stakes in the company, including a $3.1 billion investment by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and further investments by Swiss bank UBS AG and Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd (who also promised to subscribe for an additional $500 million worth of shares during the IPO). The Bank was also investigated by the United States in its money laundering probe related to the superdollars affair.
• 2006: BOC's listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 1, 2006 was the largest IPO since 2000 and the fourth largest IPO ever, raising some US$9.7 billion in the H-share Global Offering. The Over-Allotment Option was then exercised on June 7, 2006, raising the total value of their IPO to US$11.2 billion. BOC also made a successful IPO in mainland China on July 5, 2006, offering up to 10 billion A-shares on the Shanghai A Stock Exchange for RMB20 billion (US$2.5 billion). BOC also bought Singapore Airlines's stake in Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise, renaming it BOC Aviation in 2007.
• 2008: Bank of China buys a 20 percent stake in La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild (LCFR) for 236.3 million euros (US$340 million)
• 2001-2007: Massive staff layoffs and paycuts in BOC Singapore Branch, culminating in 2007 with branch head Zhu Hua being asked to leave by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for his poor performance. He was replaced by Liu Yan Fen.
• 2008: Head of Settlements at BOC, Chin Chuh Meng, was investigated involvement for Multi-Level Marketing Activities in Singapore, a scheme involving employees of the Bank of China and ex-Kwangtung Bank.
• 2009: Opened branches in São Paulo and Maputo. Penang branch reopened in October. People's Park Remittance Centre opened in Singapore. Sunday Banking Business ceased in Chinatown Sub-branch in Singapore.
• 2012:BOC opened branch in Taiwan. The opening is seen as a symbol of deepening economic ties across Taiwan Strait Bank of China (M) Bhd opened its 6th branch in Malaysia at Tower 2, PFCC, Bandar Puteri Puchong in 2012.