Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), also known as AgBank, is one of the "
Big Four"
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
s in
China. It was founded on 10 July 1951, and has its headquarters in
Dongcheng District,
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
. It has branches throughout
mainland China,
Hong Kong,
London,
Tokyo,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
,
Frankfurt,
Sydney,
Seoul, and
Singapore.
ABC has 320 million retail customers, corporate clients, and nearly 24,000 branches. It is China's third-largest lender by assets. ABC went public in mid-2010, fetching the world's biggest ever
initial public offering (IPO) at the time, since overtaken by the
Saudi Arabian
state-run petroleum enterprise,
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...
. In 2011, it ranked eighth among the Top 1000 World Banks, by 2015, it ranked third in Forbes' 13th annual Global 2000 list and in 2017 it ranked fifth. It is considered a
systemically important bank
A systemically important financial institution (SIFI) is a bank, insurance company, or other financial institution whose failure might trigger a financial crisis. They are colloquially referred to as "too big to fail".
As the financial crisis o ...
by the
Financial Stability Board
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established after the G20 London summit in April 2009 as a successor to the Financial Stability For ...
.
History
Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, ABC has been formed and abolished several times. On July 10, 1951, two banks of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...
,
Farmers Bank of China and Cooperation Bank, merged to form the Agricultural Cooperation Bank, which ABC regards as its ancestor. However, the bank was merged into
People's Bank of China
The People's Bank of China (officially PBC or informally PBOC; ) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China, responsible for carrying out monetary policy and regulation of financial institutions in mainland China, as determined by ...
, the central bank in 1952. The first bank bearing the name Agricultural Bank of China was founded in 1955, but it was merged into the central bank in 1957. In 1963 the Chinese government formed another agricultural bank which was also merged into the central bank two years later. Today's Agricultural Bank of China was founded in February 1979. It was restructured to form a
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
called Agricultural Bank of China Limited. It was listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges in July 2010.
In April 2007, ABC was the victim of the
largest bank theft in Chinese history. This occurred when two
vault managers at the
Handan
Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shan ...
branch of the bank in
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...
province
embezzled almost
yuan (
US$7.5 million).
[Suspects of China's largest bank theft go on trial](_blank)
, Lin Li, ''Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
'', July 24, 2007
In 2012, ABC started a project to migrate to the
Avaloq Banking System.
During the
2013 Korean crisis
The following lists events that happened in 2013 in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In 2013, tensions between North Korea and South Korea, the United States, and Japan escalated because of United Nations Security Council Resolution 208 ...
, the Agricultural Bank of China halted business with a North Korean bank accused by the United States of financing Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.
2010 initial public offering
ABC was the last of the "
big four" banks in China to go public. In 2010,
A shares and
H shares
H shares () refer to the shares of companies incorporated in mainland China that are traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Many companies float their shares simultaneously on the Hong Kong market and one of the two mainland Chinese stock excha ...
of Agricultural Bank of China were listed on the
Shanghai Stock Exchange
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Excha ...
and the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is rep ...
respectively. Each share was set to cost between 2.7
RMB and 3.3RMB per share. H shares were set to cost between HK$2.88 and HK$3.48 per share. The final share price for the IPO launch was issued on July 7, 2010. On completion in August 2010 it became the world's biggest
initial public offering (IPO) surpassing the one set by
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC; ) is a Chinese multinational bank.
Founded as a limited company on 1 January 1984, ICBC is a state-owned commercial bank. With capital provided by the Ministry of Finance of China, the b ...
in 2006 of . This record has since been beaten by another Chinese company,
Alibaba, in 2014.
ABC raised US$19.21 billion in an IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai on July 6, 2010, before overallotment options were exercised. On August 13, 2010, ABC officially completed the world's largest initial public offering, raising a total of after both Shanghai and Hong Kong's over-allotments were fully exercised. The IPO was once thought to be able to raise , but weaker market sentiment dampened the value. Despite a 15-month low for the Chinese benchmark index, the IPO was said to have gone smoothly.
CICC,
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Ho ...
, and
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
led the Hong Kong offering, with
JPMorgan,
Macquarie Macquarie may refer to: People
* Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of the British colony of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821.
* Elizabeth Macquarie Campbell, Lachlan Macquarie's second wife
Locations
* Division of Macquarie, an electoral district in th ...
,
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York St ...
and ABC's own securities unit also involved.
CICC,
CITIC Securities
CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. is a Chinese full-service investment bank. It offers services in underwriting, research, brokerage, asset management, wealth management, and investment advisory. CITIC Securities was established in 1995 and it is head ...
, Galaxy and
Guotai Junan Securities
Guotai Junan Securities Co., Ltd. (GTJA) is one of the largest investment banks and securities companies in the People's Republic of China.
Overview
Guotai Junan Securities Co. Ltd., was established on August 18, 1999 after the merger of forme ...
handled the Shanghai portion. ABC sold about 40% of the Shanghai offering to 27 strategic investors, including
China Life Insurance and
China State Construction. They were subject to lock-up periods of 12–18 months. Eleven cornerstone investors were selected for its Hong Kong share offering, including
Qatar Investment Authority
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ar, جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In 202 ...
and
Kuwait Investment Authority, taking a combined worth of
shares
In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of ...
.
See also
*
Asset management in China
*
Banking in China
**
Policy banks
**
List of banks in China
This is a list of banks in China, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
The central bank of the People's Republic of China is the People's Bank of China, a component of the State Council, the Central Government of China. The People's ...
*
List of companies of China
Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China has become one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. , it was the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). China was also th ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agricultural Bank Of China
Companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange
Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Companies in the CSI 100 Index
Chinese brands
Government-owned companies of China
Banks established in 1949
1949 establishments in China
Companies based in Beijing
H shares
Systemically important financial institutions
2010 initial public offerings