<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Dec 9, 2008
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The Fed said it had determined that CCB had adequate anti-money laundering safeguards and had committed to respect US laws on money laundering. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - THE US Federal Reserve said on Monday it had authorised China Construction Bank, a leading Chinese state bank, to operate in the United States.
The proposed New York City branch of CCB 'would engage in wholesale deposit-taking, lending, trade finance, and other banking services', the Fed said in a statement.
The US central bank recalled that China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) is 57.0 per cent owned by the Chinese state, 19.7 per cent by US banking group Bank of America and 5.7 per cent by Temasek Holdings, a sovereign wealth fund owned by the government of Singapore. The remainder of the capital is publicly traded.
CCB is the second-largest bank in China, with total assets of approximately 1.1 trillion dollars (S$1.65 trillion), it noted.
The Fed said it had determined that CCB had adequate anti-money laundering safeguards and had committed to respect US laws on money laundering.
CCB's own funds exceed the minimum set by the 1998 Basel Capital Accord and 'is considered equivalent to capital that would be required of a US banking organisation', the US central bank said.
CCB would be the fourth mainland Chinese bank - excluding banks in Hong Kong - to open operations in the US, after the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's top bank, also has asked the Fed for authorisation to open a branch in New York. -- AFP
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>CCB to open office in US <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
The Fed said it had determined that CCB had adequate anti-money laundering safeguards and had committed to respect US laws on money laundering. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->
WASHINGTON - THE US Federal Reserve said on Monday it had authorised China Construction Bank, a leading Chinese state bank, to operate in the United States.
The proposed New York City branch of CCB 'would engage in wholesale deposit-taking, lending, trade finance, and other banking services', the Fed said in a statement.
The US central bank recalled that China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) is 57.0 per cent owned by the Chinese state, 19.7 per cent by US banking group Bank of America and 5.7 per cent by Temasek Holdings, a sovereign wealth fund owned by the government of Singapore. The remainder of the capital is publicly traded.
CCB is the second-largest bank in China, with total assets of approximately 1.1 trillion dollars (S$1.65 trillion), it noted.
The Fed said it had determined that CCB had adequate anti-money laundering safeguards and had committed to respect US laws on money laundering.
CCB's own funds exceed the minimum set by the 1998 Basel Capital Accord and 'is considered equivalent to capital that would be required of a US banking organisation', the US central bank said.
CCB would be the fourth mainland Chinese bank - excluding banks in Hong Kong - to open operations in the US, after the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's top bank, also has asked the Fed for authorisation to open a branch in New York. -- AFP
