The Industrial and Comm'l. Bank of China to open first U.S. branch

According to Governor David Paterson, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest bank in mainland China, is opening its first U.S. branch in NYC. This is the latest positive development for New York's financial marketplace, following Goldman Sachs to headquarter its new full-service banking operations in NYC. "Once again, New York is proving itself to be the capital of global finance. When one of the largest banks in the world chooses NYC as their U.S. base of operations, it is a reminder of the role that our state plays in global financial markets," said governor Paterson. "We are very proud to have such a distinguished banking organization decide to locate their branch office in NYC and are eager to work with ICBC as they develop their business in the U.S. to support the growing trade between our countries." ICBC's official opening comes in the same week as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. applied to the N.Y. State Banking Department to become a full-service, state-chartered bank, and will headquarter its U.S. commercial bank in NYC. Once approved, Goldman Sachs Bank USA will have approximately $150 billion in assets. In September, the N.Y. State Banking Department awarded a license to ICBC to establish this branch in the U.S. Since 1997, ICBC has had a representative office in N.Y., which is also licensed by the Banking Department. N.Y. state superintendent Richard Neiman said, "This branch represents ICBC's confidence in N.Y., its Banking Department, and in the U.S. economy. We are very pleased to welcome them to N.Y. and look forward to supervising their banking activities as they continue to implement their growth strategy." In July, the Banking Department also awarded a license to China Merchants Bank (CMB), the 6th largest bank in China, to open the first new mainland Chinese branch in the U.S in 17 years. CMB was the first branch of a bank from mainland China to open since the adoption of the Foreign Bank Supervision Enhancement Act of 1991. Founded in 1984, ICBC, as of December 31st, 2007, had a market value of $339 billion. It has branches and offices in China and 13 other countries with over 380,000 employees servicing the banking needs of 170 million individual customers and almost three million corporate customers. In 2007, ICBC's net income increased 66% compared to the prior year. The N.Y. state Banking Department currently licenses 136 foreign institutions, including branches, representative offices and commercial banks from more than 30 countries. Additionally, the Banking Department is the regulator for all state-chartered banking institutions, virtually all of the U.S. offices of international banking institutions, all of the state's mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, check cashers, money transmitters and budget planners. The aggregate assets of the depository institutions supervised by the Banking Department are more than $2.2 trillion.