(21 June 2012 – China) The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) was granted a licence by the New York Department of Financial Services last week, paving the way to open its first branch in the United States.ABC is one of China’s “big four” and is a latecomer to overseas expansion, following rivals Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest bank in China, and Bank of China.
The New York branch will engage in wholesale deposit taking, lending, trade finance, foreign exchange and other banking services.
Ming Yu, branch general manager, said ABC’s New York branch will facilitate banking and other business activities between China and the United States by providing trade finance, dollar clearing and other services to businesses from both countries.
It has only three overseas branches in Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul, and representative offices in Sydney.
This contrasts with ICBC’s foreign presence that consisted of 122 branches and offices in 15 countries and regions around the world in 2008.