The Bank of China (BOC) Group aims to complete the merger of its 10 bank units before December, after legislators yesterday passed a law paving the way for the largest corporate consolidation in Hong Kong's history.
Enactment of The Bank of China (HK) Ltd Merger Bill 2001 will allow the BOC group to transfer eight million client contracts from 10 banks into one of its member banks, Po Sang Bank, which after the merger will be renamed Bank of China (HK).
BOC last night revealed it would adopt a new centralised structure for the merged group which would have 13 departments to handle different business areas for more than one million clients.
The merger, the largest corporate consolidation in Hong Kong's history, will change the banking landscape by creating a new giant with more than 300 branches - on a par with HSBC.
The new structure will enable BOC to put much more focus on risk management and corporate governance, so as to catch up with international practices, according to Liu Jinbao, chief executive of Bank of China Hong Kong-Macau Regional Office. 'The corporate governance of the new bank will be enhanced and the bank will comply with international accounting standards as well as more comprehensive financial disclosure requirements,' he said.
'It will therefore be in a better position to serve local and international customers.'