State Bank grants banking licence to Bank of China

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued a banking licence to the Bank of China, a press release on Saturday said. The bank will commence its business in branch mode after meeting other regulatory requirements.

The Bank of China is a subsidiary of China Central Huijin, the investment arm of the Government of China. The Bank of China has footprints in 50 countries, 19 which are located across the country’s “One Belt One Road” initiative. At the end of 2015, the bank had a total of 11,633 institutions including 644 in overseas markets.

The Bank of China is the fourth and fifth largest global bank in terms of Tier-1 Capital and total Assets, respectively. It is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The bank will initially bring $50 million to fulfill the Minimum Capital Requirements of SBP, the central bank said in an announcement. The long-term objective of the Bank of China is to increase its market penetration by opening branches in major cities of Pakistan aiming to be one of the largest foreign banks in Pakistan.

The Bank of China aims to provide differential and specialised banking services to effectively serve the financing needs of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)-related projects by leveraging on its experience and global technology platform.

The Bank of China is the second Chinese bank entering in Pakistan. The bank’s entry into Pakistan represents growing confidence of international investors in the country’s banking sector and stable economic outlook.