Bank of England says has granted branch licence to China's ICBC
Reuters
Published Sep 11, 2014 18:26
Bank of England says has granted branch licence to China's ICBC
LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England has granted a wholesale banking licence to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (HK:1398) (SS:601398), China's largest bank, a spokeswoman for the British central bank said on Thursday.
The news comes before a meeting between British finance minister George Osborne and Chinese Vice-Premier Ma Kai on Friday as part of an annual financial dialogue.
The wholesale banking licence does not permit ICBC to take British retail deposits.
ICBC already operates in London as a subsidiary, but its ability to expand in the British market was constrained by the lack of a branch licence.
Britain has been keen to attract Chinese banks and offshore trade in the yuan to bolster its position as the world's main centre for foreign exchange trading.
In March, Britain and China signed an agreement to set up a clearing service for renminbi trading in London, which is competing with Luxembourg, New York, Paris and Frankfurt to become the top Western offshore yuan centre.
Osborne has also said he wants to see London explore connections with Chinese stock exchanges, and in June announced that Britain will provide guarantees for transactions denominated in renminbi.
Chinese banks like ICBC have been under growing pressure to speed up global growth in response to a slowing market at home.
Two weeks ago, ICBC reported the slowest growth in second-quarter profit for five years and an increase in bad loans, affected by loss of momentum in the Chinese economy.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce, additional reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Larry King)
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Written By: Reuters
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