Bank of Communications

One of China's oldest banking names, Bank of Communications has been issuing notes and holding deposits since 1908, when it was founded as one of a small group of domestic banks authorized to print currency. The bank's early history ran straight through the upheavals of twentieth-century China. After the 1949 revolution, its mainland operations were folded into the People's Bank of China and the People's Construction Bank of China under the country's single-tier banking system, while the Taiwan side of the business eventually became part of Mega International Commercial Bank.

The institution as it exists today dates from 1986, when the mainland government revived Bank of Communications as a commercial credit institution. It has since grown into a multinational financial services group with a presence in wealth management, corporate lending, trade finance, and insurance. The bank listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2005 and followed with a Shanghai Stock Exchange listing in May 2007, giving it access to both offshore and onshore capital markets. [edit]