Farmers Bank of China - History

History

The Farmers Bank of China was founded on April 1, 1933, in Hankou from the amalgamation of provincial agricultural banks in Henan, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangxi. Governed by the Farmers Bank of China Law, the bank was established to stimulate agricultural development by providing lines of credit to farmers and rural landowners. The loans were intended for use to purchase equipment and crops. The bank was initially under majority government ownership.

The bank became one of the four major banks of the Republican period. Along with the Central Bank of China, Bank of China and Bank of Communications, the Farmers Bank of China was allowed to issue its own banknotes until 1942.

The bank was twice forced by war to relocate with the Kuomintang Central Government, first to Chongqing in 1937 and later to Taipei in 1949. However, it was not until 1967 that the bank resumed operations after relocating to Taiwan. The Government of the People's Republic of China incorporated the bank's Mainland assets into the People's Bank of China, but later transferred these to the Agricultural Bank of China.

From 1967 until 2006, the bank opened and operated 107 branches throughout Taiwan. It also operated overseas offices in Los Angeles and Seattle, Washington State. The bank was the 14th largest lender in the Republic of China as of 2006.

The government of the Republic of China undertook a reform of the banking industry in 1992 with the listing of government owned banks on the stock exchange. The Farmers Bank of China was partially privatised in 1994, and all government shares were put on the market in 1999. Accordingly, the Farmers Bank of China Law was repealed in 2005.

The bank was acquired by the Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) on May 1, 2006.