Caixin News Agency, July 26th (Reporter Peng Kefeng): Foreign institutions have once again closed their representative offices. On the morning of July 26th, the official website of the State Administration for Financial Regulation announced that it had approved the closure of the Beijing representative office of Bank of Nova Scotia Limited in Canada. It is worth noting that Bank of Nova Scotia is the major shareholder of Xi'an Bank.
After more than 40 years of establishment, Bank of Nova Scotia has closed its representative office in Beijing
Today, the Beijing Financial Regulatory Bureau issued an approval to close the Beijing representative office of Bank of Nova Scotia Limited in Canada. The date for regulatory approval is July 19, 2024.
The Beijing Financial Regulatory Bureau stated that they have received the application letter signed by Scott Thomson, President and CEO of Bank of Nova Scotia, addressed to our bureau. According to the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Funded Banks in the People's Republic of China", "Implementation Rules for the Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Funded Banks in the People's Republic of China", and "Implementation Measures for Administrative Licensing Matters of Foreign Funded Banks by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission", after review, it is approved to close the Beijing Representative Office of Bank of Canada Limited. Please follow the relevant regulations to handle the closure, cancellation and other related procedures of the Beijing Representative Office of Bank of Nova Scotia Limited.
According to public information, the Beijing representative office of Bank of Nova Scotia Limited was established on May 13, 1982, which means that this institution has a business history of over 40 years in Beijing.
In addition, today's reporter inquired about the information on the official website of the Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada, and found that the Bank of Nova Scotia has entered the Chinese Mainland for decades. It has opened a representative office in Beijing, set up two branches in Shanghai and Guangzhou, covering the main markets in China, and also set up a joint venture wealth management company with the Bank of Beijing.
According to the latest information from Oriental Wealth Network, as of the first quarter of this year, Scotiabank of Canada ranked first among the top ten shareholders of Xi'an Bank, holding 805 million shares. The Xi'an Bank shares held by Fengye Bank account for 18.20% of the outstanding shares.
Several foreign banks have closed their branches in China this year
Today, according to reporters' statistics, in addition to Bank of Nova Scotia in Canada, several foreign institutions including Bank of Japan's Beiyang, Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of Australia and New Zealand, and Bank of Cyprus Public Limited have closed their branches and representative offices in China this year. Among them, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank have closed a large number of branches.
Specifically, cases of closing representative offices in China include: on April 30th, regulators issued a document approving the closure of the Beijing representative office of Bank of Cyprus Public Limited. On March 29th, regulators issued a statement approving the closure of the Beijing representative office of Deutsche Bank AG. On July 3rd, regulators issued a statement agreeing to the closure of the Dalian representative office of Japan's Beiyang Bank Co., Ltd. On February 20th, the regulatory authorities issued a document approving the closure of the Shanghai representative office of Bank of Japan, Ltd.
According to incomplete statistics, Citibank's branches in China that closed during the year include Citibank (China) Co., Ltd. Hangzhou Huanglong Branch, Citibank (China) Co., Ltd. Shenzhen Futian Branch, Citibank (China) Co., Ltd. Chengdu Fengde International Plaza Branch, Citibank (China) Co., Ltd. Shanghai Gubei Branch, Citibank (China) Co., Ltd. Shanghai Nanjing West Road Branch, etc.
The branches of Standard Chartered Bank in China that were closed during the year include Standard Chartered Bank (China) Co., Ltd. Qingdao Haier Road Branch, Standard Chartered Bank (China) Co., Ltd. Hohhot Branch, Standard Chartered Bank (China) Co., Ltd. Hangzhou Chengxi Branch, Standard Chartered Bank (China) Co., Ltd. Shanghai Huaihai Middle Road Branch, Standard Chartered Bank (China) Co., Ltd. Shenzhen Chegongmiao Branch, etc.