US bank establishes branch in Hong Kong

The US-based, United Commercial Bank (UCB), has upgraded its representative office in Hong Kong to a branch, which also serves as UCB's regional office for the Greater China region.

The move underlines the increasing demand for financial services as the liberalisation of the Mainland market under the WTO and CEPA generates more trade flows between China and the world.

UCB also plans to use Hong Kong as a springboard to the Greater China region, which will include establishing representative offices in mainland China and Taipei in the near future.

The bank opened a representative office in Hong Kong in January 2002 and was granted a full banking licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in July this year.

The Chairman and CEO of UCBH Holdings, Inc, Mr Thomas S Wu, said today (October 29) that having a branch office in Hong Kong would increase the bank's trade finance capabilities in the Pacific Rim and provide seamless international banking services to UCB's clients in the region.

The acting Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr John Rutherford, said Hong Kong had one of the highest concentrations of banks in the world, with 70 of the top 100 institutions based in the city.

"Our city offers many competitive advantages that set it apart as the region's first-choice banking base. This includes a level playing field and unrestricted movement of capital, together with a transparent regulatory structure, an independent legal system and a simple, low tax regime," he said.

UCB is the leading Californian bank serving the ethnic Chinese community, with assets of about US$5.5 billion. It has 42 branch offices located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Stockton, and the Greater Los Angeles Area, a branch in Brooklyn, New York, and one in Hong Kong.

Ends/Wednesday, October 29, 2003