The Federal Reserve Board announced today its approval of the application of Agricultural Bank of China, Beijing, People's Republic of China, to establish a representative office in New York, New York. Attached is the Board's Order relating to this action. The Foreign Bank Supervision Enhancement Act of 1991, which amended the IBA, provides that a foreign bank must obtain the approval of the Board to establish a representative office in the United States. The time for filing comments has expired, and the Board has considered the application and all comments received. Bank is the second largest of the four specialized banks in China and is wholly owned by the Chinese government.
Bank operates numerous offices and owns two subsidiaries in China.
Outside China, Bank operates branches in Singapore and Hong Kong and representative offices in London, England, and Tokyo, Japan. Until recently, one of Bank's primary activities was receiving funds from China's federal, regional, and local authorities and other sources and lending such funds to support the development of agricultural and rural industrial production and expand the circulation of commodities. In connection with ongoing efforts to modernize the financial system, however, Bank now engages in more traditional commercial banking activities. The activities of Bank's proposed representative office would include marketing, research, and liaison activities. In addition, the representative office would engage in certain loan solicitation and servicing activities.