今日，财联社记者查询发现，依据监管部门网站信息，这也应是年内首家城商行通过收购旗下村行方式在省外设立分支机构的案例。① The industry claims that there has been no relaxation in the policy for setting up branches by city commercial banks outside the province, but the case of harbin bank is "worthy of support and encouragement." ② According to information from regulatory agency websites, this should be the first case in the year of a city commercial bank establishing a branch outside the province through the acquisition of its affiliated village bank. ③ Previously, the village bank under Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank located in Shandong Province completed its disposal by exiting and transferring equity.
Caifinance News on November 22nd (Reporter Peng Kefeng) - Rural banks have found a new path for reforming risk!
On November 21st, the official website of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission disclosed that it approved Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. to acquire Chongqing Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank Co., Ltd. and establish Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. Chongqing Youyang Branch, Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. Chongqing Youyang Taohuayuan Branch, and Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. Chongqing Youyang Longtan Branch.
Today, Caifinance reporters found through regulatory department website information that this should be the first case of a city commercial bank setting up branches in another province by acquiring rural banks within the year.
Harbin Bank makes a major breakthrough by acquiring a rural bank in Chongqing and establishing an out-of-province branch.
Yesterday, the Regulatory Bureau of Qianjiang of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a document stating that it approved Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. to acquire Chongqing Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank Co., Ltd. and establish Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. Chongqing Youyang Branch, Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. Chongqing Youyang Taohuayuan Branch, and Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. Chongqing Youyang Longtan Branch. They will take over the assets, liabilities, business, and employees of Chongqing Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank Co., Ltd. after the asset verification and clearance.
According to Qichacha information, Chongqing Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank Co., Ltd. was established in May 2012, with Harbin Bank as its controlling shareholder. Additionally, public information shows that Rongxing Rural Bank is a new type of rural financial institution approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission and initiated by Harbin Bank. Established on December 30, 2008, Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank is part of the Rongxing Rural Bank system.
Caifinance reporters found that there were early signals of this cross-regional merger. On August 6th this year, Harbin Bank announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it would hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on August 26th to consider the proposal to absorb and merge four rural banks including Ning'an Rongxing Rural Bank under it and convert them into branches, as well as to authorize the board to carry out related matters regarding rural bank reform and restructuring. Specifically, it proposed the absorption and merger of Ning'an Rongxing Rural Bank, Baiquan Rongxing Rural Bank, Huanan Rongxing Rural Bank, and Chongqing Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank, and their conversion into branches of Harbin Bank. Among the four rural banks mentioned, Chongqing Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank is the only one located outside the province.
Based on the above information, this also means that after half a year, harbin bank finally completed the process from board of directors' approval to regulatory approval, and the reform of Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank in Chongqing was successfully completed.
Is the ban on cross-regional branches of city commercial banks loosening? Industry insiders believe that such exploration is worth supporting and encouraging.
It is worth noting that although the reform of rural banks has been continuously advancing in recent years, there have been no incidents of city commercial banks directly converting provincial rural banks into branches before. According to regulatory authorities' website, harbin bank absorbed and merged with Youyang Rongxing Rural Bank in Chongqing and converted it into a branch, this being the first case.
In past regulatory approval documents, cases of joint-stock banks absorbing and merging rural banks and converting them into branch institutions have occurred, such as Hua Xia Bank and Minsheng Bank. However, for city commercial banks and rural commercial banks, there have been no precedents before.
For example, on October 31st, the regulatory website revealed that it approved Qingdao Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. to acquire 73.205 million shares of Qingdao Pingdu Huimin Rural Bank Co., Ltd. previously held by Jilin Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. After the acquisition, Qingdao Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. holds a total of 73.205 million shares of Qingdao Pingdu Huimin Rural Bank, with a shareholding ratio of 58.82%, becoming the main sponsoring bank of Qingdao Pingdu Huimin Rural Bank, and Jilin Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. no longer holds any shares.
This is the first case in Shandong Province of a rural commercial bank from another province initiating the establishment of a rural bank, also indicating that in the reform of the aforementioned rural banks, Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank did not choose to set up branches outside the province, but instead exited the operation of rural banks in Shandong Province through equity transfer.
"This is because in the past, the regulatory authorities had restrictions on city commercial banks setting up branches outside the province, which essentially halted such actions of city commercial banks expanding business outside the province." A senior executive from a leading city commercial bank frankly told Caixin journalists, for various reasons, regardless of the scale, city commercial banks have long been prohibited from establishing branches outside the province.
In fact, in April of this year, when an investor asked Bank of Zhengzhou, "Can Zhengzhou Bank open branches in Shenzhen?", the response from Bank of Zhengzhou was, "According to current regulatory regulations, as a city commercial bank, we cannot establish branch institutions outside the province.".
Regarding the case of Harbin Bank absorbing and merging rural banks and setting up branches in Chongqing, the above urban commercial bank officials believe it is "worthy of support and encouragement".
He further stated that for various reasons, many years ago, urban and rural commercial banks set up a large number of rural banks outside the province, which is an objective fact. Despite the subsequent regulation prohibiting the establishment of branches outside the province, in the new round of banking industry reform, various market-oriented explorations should be allowed. It is believed that the urban commercial banks' practice of setting up branches outside the province after absorbing and merging rural banks has been thoroughly considered by the regulatory authorities before approval. Corresponding to the current changes in the banking industry, the adjustment and optimization of relevant policies are also reasonable and appropriate.
"Furthermore, from the current economic situation, it seems that some urban commercial banks do not have a particularly strong motivation to actively apply to open branches outside the province. After all, setting up new institutions requires a large amount of cost, and against the background of the overall annual assessment of banks, the decisions of urban commercial banks tend to be more cautious." The individual concluded.
