Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational banking and financial services holding company which is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with "hubquarters" throughout the country. It is the largest bank in the world by market value. It is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home mortgage servicing, and debit cards. Wells Fargo ranked 10th among the Forbes Global 2000 (2015) and the 30th largest company in the United States, according to Fortune 500 (2015).
In 2007 it was the only bank in the United States to be rated AAA by S&P, though its rating has since been lowered to AA- in light of the financial crisis of 2007–08. The firm's primary U.S. operating subsidiary is national bank Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., which designates its main office as Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Wells Fargo in its present form is a result of a merger between San Francisco–based Wells Fargo & Company and Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation in 1998 and the subsequent 2008 acquisition of Charlotte-based Wachovia. Following the mergers, the company transferred its headquarters to Wells Fargo's headquarters in San Francisco and merged its operating subsidiary with Wells Fargo's operating subsidiary in Sioux Falls.
Wells Fargo is one of the "Big Four Banks" of the United States, along with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup—its main competitors. The company operates across 35 countries and has over 70 million customers globally. In 2012, it had more than 9,000 retail branches and over 12,000 automated teller machines in 39 states and the District of Columbia. In July, 2015, Wells Fargo became the world's largest bank by market capitalization, edging past ICBC.
In February 2014 Wells Fargo was named the world's most valuable bank brand for the second year running in The Banker and Brand Finance study of the top 500 banking brands.
General Electric (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in New York. As of 2015, the company operates through the following segments: Appliances, Power and Water, Oil and Gas, Energy Management, Aviation, Healthcare, Transportation and Capital which cater to the needs of Home Appliances, Financial services, Medical device, Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Automotive, Software Development and Engineering industries.
In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 26th-largest firm in the U.S. by gross revenue,and the 14th most profitable. As of 2012 the company was listed the fourth-largest in the world among the Forbes Global 2000, further metrics being taken into account. The Nobel Prize has twice been awarded to employees of General Electric: Irving Langmuir in 1932 and Ivar Giaever in 1973.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Formation
1.2 Public company
1.3 RCA
1.4 Television
1.5 Power generation
1.6 Computing
1.7 Acquisitions and Divestments
2 Stock
3 Corporate affairs
3.1 CEO
3.2 Businesses
3.3 Corporate recognition and rankings
4 Controversies and criticism
5 Environmental record
5.1 Pollution
5.1.1 Pollution of the Hudson River
5.2 Environmental initiatives
6 Educational initiatives
7 Content-marketing campaign
8 Legal issues
9 Political affiliation
10 Notable appearances in media
11 See also
12 References
13 Further reading
14 External links
History
Further information: General Electric timeline
Formation
General Electric in Schenectady, NY, aerial view, 1896
Plan of Schenectady plant, 1896
During 1889, Thomas Edison had business interests in many electricity-related companies: Edison Lamp Company, a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; Edison Machine Works, a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; Bergmann & Company, a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and Edison Electric Light Company, the patent-holding company and the financial arm backed by J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family for Edison's lighting experiments. In 1889, Drexel, Morgan & Co., a company founded by J.P. Morgan and Anthony J. Drexel, financed Edison's research and helped merge those companies under one corporation to form Edison General Electric Company which was incorporated in New York on April 24, 1889. The new company also acquired Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company in the same year.
At about the same time, Charles Coffin, leading the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, acquired a number of competitors and gained access to their key patents. General Electric was formed through the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, and Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, with the support of Drexel, Morgan & Co. Both plants continue to operate under the GE banner to this day. The company was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant used as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was formed.
Public company
In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average. After 119 years, it is the only one of the original companies still listed on the Dow index, although it has not been on the index continuously.
A 23-ton diesel-electric locomotive made at the General Electric Corp. plant in Schenectady, New York
In 1911, General Electric absorbed the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA) into its lighting business. GE established its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. Nela Park is still the headquarters for GE's lighting business.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (ExxonMobil) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, and was formed on November 30, 1999 by the merger of Exxon (originally the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey) and Mobil (originally the Standard Oil Company of New York).
The world's 5th largest company by revenue, ExxonMobil is also the third largest publicly traded company by market capitalization. The company was ranked No. 6 globally in Forbes Global 2000 list in 2014. ExxonMobil was the second most profitable company in the Fortune 500 in 2014.
ExxonMobil is the largest of the world's supermajors with daily production of 3.921 million BOE. In 2008, this was approximately 3 percent of world production, which is less than several of the largest state-owned petroleum companies. When ranked by oil and gas reserves, it is 14th in the world—with less than 1 percent of the total. ExxonMobil's reserves were 25.2 billion BOE (barrels of oil equivalent) at the end of 2013 and the 2007 rates of production were expected to last more than 14 years. With 37 oil refineries in 21 countries constituting a combined daily refining capacity of 6.3 million barrels (1,000,000 m3), ExxonMobil is the largest refiner in the world,a title that was also associated with Standard Oil since its incorporation in 1870.
ExxonMobil has been subject to numerous criticisms, including the lack of speed during its cleanup efforts after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, widely considered to be one of the world's worst oil spills in terms of damage to the environment. ExxonMobil has also drawn criticism for its history of lobbying in attempts to discredit the idea that climate change is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, something that modern scientific consensus largely thwarted. The company has also been the target of accusations of improperly dealing with human rights issues, influence on American foreign policy, and its impact on the future of nations.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational banking and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's sixth largest bank by total assets, with total assets of US$2.6 trillion. It is a major provider of financial services, and according to Forbes magazine is the world's third largest public company based on a composite ranking.The hedge fund unit of JPMorgan Chase is the second largest hedge fund in the United States. The company was formed in 2000, when Chase Manhattan Corporation merged with J.P. Morgan & Co.
The J.P. Morgan brand, historically known as Morgan, is used by the investment banking, asset management, private banking, private wealth management, and treasury & securities services divisions. Fiduciary activity within private banking and private wealth management is done under the aegis of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.—the actual trustee. The Chase brand is used for credit card services in the United States and Canada, the bank's retail banking activities in the United States, and commercial banking. The corporate headquarters is located at 270 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The retail and commercial bank is headquartered in Chase Tower, Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is considered to be a universal bank.
JPMorgan Chase is one of the Big Four banks of the United States, along with Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.According to Bloomberg, as of October 2011, JPMorgan Chase had surpassed Bank of America as the largest U.S. bank by assets.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Chemical Banking Corporation
1.2 Chase Manhattan Bank
1.3 J.P. Morgan & Company
1.4 Bank One Corporation
1.5 Bear Stearns
1.6 Washington Mutual
1.7 2013 settlement
1.8 Other recent acquisitions
1.9 Acquisition history
1.10 Recent News
2 Structure
2.1 JPMorgan Europe, Ltd.
3 Financial data
4 Operations
4.1 History
5 Lobbying
6 Controversies
6.1 National Mortgage Settlement
6.2 Speculative trading
6.3 Conflicts of interest on investment research
6.4 Enron
6.5 WorldCom
6.6 Jefferson County, Alabama
6.7 Failure to comply with client money rules in the UK
6.8 Mortgage overcharge of active military personnel
6.9 Truth in Lending Act litigation
6.10 Alleged manipulation of energy market
6.11 Criminal investigation into obstruction of justice
6.12 Sanctions violations
6.13 Mortgage-backed securities sales
6.14 "Sons and Daughters" hiring program
6.15 Madoff fraud
6.16 Corruption investigation in Asia
6.17 September 2014 cyber-attack
7 Offices
8 Credit derivatives
8.1 Multibillion-dollar trading loss
9 Art collection
10 Major sponsorships
11 Notable former employees
11.1 Business
11.2 Politics and public service
11.3 Other
12 See also
12.1 Index products
13 References
14 External links
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The company wholly owns GEICO, BNSF, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Helzberg Diamonds, FlightSafety International, and NetJets, owns 26% of Kraft Heinz Company and an undisclosed percentage of Mars, Incorporated, and has significant minority holdings in American Express, The Coca-Cola Company, Wells Fargo, IBM and Restaurant Brands International. Berkshire Hathaway averaged an annual growth in book value of 19.7% to its shareholders for the last 49 years (compared to 9.8% from the S&P 500 with dividends included for the same period), while employing large amounts of capital, and minimal debt.
The company is known for its control and leadership by Warren Buffett, who is the company's Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer, and Charlie Munger, the company's Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. In the early part of Buffett's career at Berkshire, he focused on long-term investments in publicly traded companies, but more recently he more frequently bought whole companies. Berkshire now owns a diverse range of businesses including confectionery, retail, railroad, home furnishings, encyclopedias, manufacturers of vacuum cleaners, jewelry sales, newspaper publishing, manufacture and distribution of uniforms, and several regional electric and gas utilities.
According to the Forbes Global 2000 list and formula, Berkshire Hathaway is the fifth largest public company in the world. On August 14, 2014, the price of the company's 'A' shares hit $200,000 per share for the first time in the history of the company.
Contents
1 History
2 Corporate affairs
2.1 Governance
2.2 Succession plans
3 Businesses and investments
3.1 Insurance group
3.2 Utilities and energy group
3.3 Manufacturing, service and retailing
3.3.1 Clothing
3.3.2 Building products
3.3.3 Flight services
3.3.4 Retail
3.3.5 Media
3.3.6 Other non-insurance
3.4 Finance and financial products
3.5 Investments
3.5.1 Equities – beneficial ownership
3.5.2 Other
4 Assets
5 Notes
6 External links
History
Berkshire Cotton Mills, Adams, Mass.
Hathaway Mills, New Bedford, Mass.
Berkshire Hathaway traces its roots to a textile manufacturing company established by Oliver Chace in 1839 as the Valley Falls Company in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. Chace had previously worked for Samuel Slater, the founder of the first successful textile mill in America. Chace founded his first textile mill in 1806. In 1929 the Valley Falls Company merged with the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company established in 1889, in Adams, Massachusetts. The combined company was known as Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates.
In 1955 Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates merged with the Hathaway Manufacturing Company which had been founded in 1888 in New Bedford, Massachusetts by Horatio Hathaway with profits from whaling and the China Trade. Hathaway had been successful in its first decades, but it suffered during a general decline in the textile industry after World War I. At this time, Hathaway was run by Seabury Stanton, whose investment efforts were rewarded with renewed profitability after the Depression. After the merger Berkshire Hathaway had 15 plants employing over 12,000 workers with over $120 million in revenue and was headquartered in New Bedford. However, seven of those locations were closed by the end of the decade, accompanied by large layoffs.
In 1962, Warren Buffett began buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway after noticing a pattern in the price direction of its stock whenever the company closed a mill. Eventually, Buffett acknowledged that the textile business was waning and the company's financial situation was not going to improve. In 1964, Stanton made an oral tender offer of $111⁄2 per share for the company to buy back Buffett's shares. Buffett agreed to the deal. A few weeks later, Warren Buffett received the tender offer in writing, but the tender offer was for only $113⁄8. Buffett later admitted that this lower, undercutting offer made him angry. Instead of selling at the slightly lower price, Buffett decided to buy more of the stock to take control of the company and fire Stanton (which he did). However, this put Buffett in a situation where he was now majority owner of a textile business that was failing.
Buffett initially maintained Berkshire's core business of textiles, but by 1967, he was expanding into the insurance industry and other investments. Berkshire first ventured into the insurance business with the purchase of National Indemnity Company. In the late 1970s, Berkshire acquired an equity stake in the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), which forms the core of its insurance operations today (and is a major source of capital for Berkshire Hathaway's other investments). In 1985, the last textile operations (Hathaway's historic core) were shut down.
In 2010, Buffett claimed that purchasing Berkshire Hathaway was the biggest investment mistake he had ever made, and claimed that it had denied him compounded investment returns of about $200 billion over the subsequent 45 years. Buffett claimed that had he invested that money directly in insurance businesses instead of buying out Berkshire Hathaway (due to what he perceived as a slight by an individual), those investments would have paid off several hundredfold.
Bank of China Limited (simplified Chinese: 中国银行; traditional Chinese: 中國銀行; pinyin: Zhōngguó Yínháng; often abbreviated as 中銀 (in Hong Kong) or 中行 (in mainland)) is one of the 5 biggest state-owned commercial banks in China.
It was founded in 1912 by the Republican government to replace the Imperial Bank of China. It is the oldest bank in mainland China still in existence. From its establishment until 1942, it issued banknotes on behalf of the Government along with the "Big Four" banks of the period: the Farmers Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Central Bank of the Republic of China. Its headquarters are in Xicheng District, Beijing.
As of 31 December 2009, it was the second largest lender in China overall, and the 5th largest bank in the world by market capitalization value. As of 30 June 2015, it has the third highest proportion of interest payable of Chinese companies.
Contents
1 History
2 Timeline of overseas activities
3 Hong Kong
4 Basic facts
5 Banknotes
6 Ownership
7 Issues
7.1 Guarantee scandal in Poland
7.2 Wultz v. Bank of China
7.3 Alleged money transfers to Hamas
7.4 Money laundering
8 See also
9 References
10 Resources
11 External links
History
Bank of China Headquarters, Beijing, China. Architecture by I. M. Pei.
Daqing Bank's Dalian Branch (1910), now Dalian branch of China CITIC Bank
The Bank of China's history began in 1905, when the Qing government established Daqing Hubu Bank[5] (in Chinese: 大清户部銀行) in Beijing, which was in 1908 renamed to Daqing Bank (in Chinese: 大清銀行). When the Republic of China was established in 1912, it was further renamed as Bank of China by President Sun Yat-sen's government, adding a new role of the central bank.
After the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the Bank of China effectively split into two operations. Part of the bank relocated to Taiwan with the Kuomintang (KMT) government. It was privatised in 1971 to become the International Commercial Bank of China (中國國際商業銀行). It has subsequently merged with the Taiwan Bank of Communications (Chiao Tung Bank, 交通銀行) to become the Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商業銀行). The Mainland operation is the current entity known as the Bank of China.
It is the second largest lender in China overall, and the fifth largest bank in the world by market capitalization value. Once 100% owned by the central government, via China Central Huijin and National Council for Social Security Fund (SSF), an Initial public offering (IPO) of its shares took place in June 2006, the free float is at present over 26%. In the Forbes Global 2000 it ranked as the 21st-largest company in the world.
It is the most international of China's banks, with branches on every inhabited continent. Outside of mainland China, BOC also operates in 27 countries and areas including Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, Hungary, United States, Panama, Brazil, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Zambia, South Africa, and a branch office in the Cayman Islands. In December 2010, the Bank of China New York branch began offering renminbi products for Americans. It was the first major Chinese bank to offer such a product.
Although it is present in the above countries/territories, its operations outside China accounted for less than 4% of the activity of the bank by both profits and assets. Mainland China accounts for 60% of the bank by profits and 76% by assets as at December 2005.
The tech giant celebrates its sixth year at No. 1 and recently bolstered its parental leave benefits. New parents, regardless of gender (including dads, domestic partners, adoptive parents, and surrogate parents), can now get up to twelve weeks of fully paid baby bonding time. Google also provides $500 of “Baby Bonding Bucks” to all new parents to use during the first three months of their child’s life.
Company Info
CEO/Top Executive Larry Page
Rank last year 1
# of years on list 9
F500 Rank 46
Industry Information Technology
Year founded 1998
Type of organization Public
Revenue (2014 or most recent year) $55.5 billion
Web address http://www.google.com
Total US employees 44862
Full-Time jobs added in last year 4514
Number of work sites -
Perks
Offers compressed work weeks
Offers fully-paid sabbaticals
Offers paid time off for volunteering
Onsite fitness center
Discounted gym memberships
Onsite medical care facility
Offers college tuition reimbursement to employees
Diversity
Women 28%
Minorities -
African-American 1%
Asian 18%
Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander
Caucasian or White 38%
Hispanic/Latino 1%
Native American/Alaska Native
Two or more races 2%
Same-Sex Benefits
Non-discrimination policy
Paid Time Off
Holidays 13
Vacation 15
Sick days Unlimited
General PTO
Compensation
Most common job (hourly) Associate Account Strategist, BA Program (US)
Avg. base pay (for hourly employee) -
Avg. extra comp. (for hourly employee) -
Most common job (salaried) Software Engineer III
Avg. base pay (for salaried employee) -
Avg. extra comp (for salaried employee) -
Hiring/Staffing
FT voluntary turnover -
of job applicants 1267959
Avg. # of applicants per opening 140
of jobs filled -
Jobs filled internally -
% of jobs filled by referral -
new graduates hired -
of job openings (as of Feb. 2015)
Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC, simplified Chinese: 中国农业银行; traditional Chinese: 中國農業銀行; pinyin: Zhōngguó Nóngyè Yínháng), also known as AgBank or 农行 Nóngháng, is one of the "Big Four" banks in the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1951, and has its headquarters in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It has branches throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, New York, Frankfurt, Sydney, Seoul, and Singapore.
ABC has 320 million retail customers, 2.7 million 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 another Chinese company, Alibaba. As of 2011, it ranks 8th among the Top 1000 World Banks, meanwhile Forbes Global 2000 named it the 25th-largest public company in the world. In 2014, it ranks 3rd in Forbes’ 11th annual Global 2000 ranking of the biggest, most powerful and most valuable companies in the world.
The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park is a 1,200 ft (366 m) skyscraper in the Midtown area of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is located on Sixth Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Streets, opposite Bryant Park.
The US$1 billion project was designed by COOKFOX Architects, and advertised to be one of the most efficient and ecologically friendly buildings in the world. It is the fourth tallest building in New York City, after One World Trade Center, 432 Park Avenue, and the Empire State Building, and the sixth tallest building in the United States. Construction was completed in 2009.Contents
1 Details
1.1 Environmental features
1.2 Height
2 Recognition
3 Construction incidents
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Details
The tower from street level
Construction in October 2007
The tower's architectural spire is 255.5 ft (77.9 m) tall and was placed on December 15, 2007. The building is 55 stories high and contains 2,100,000 square feet (195,096 m2) of office space, three escalators and a total of 52 elevators manufactured by Schindler Group – 50 to serve the offices and two leading to the New York City Subway's mezzanine below ground, for the 42nd Street – Bryant Park / Fifth Avenue station.
Several buildings were demolished to make way for the tower. Among them was the Hotel Diplomat, a 13-story structure which occupied the site at 108 West 43rd Street since 1911, and Henry Miller's Theatre, which was rebuilt and reopened at its previous location. The building's tenants include Bank of America as the anchor tenant and Marathon Asset Management, and the tower's platinum LEED rating and modern column-free office space has enticed tenants from all over the city. The Bank of America Tower is considered a worldwide model for green architecture in skyscrapers.
The building is sometimes referred to as the BOAT, short for Bank Of America Tower.
China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB; simplified Chinese: 中国建设银行; traditional Chinese: 中國建設銀行; pinyin: Zhōngguó Jiànshè Yínháng; often abbreviated as 建行; SSE: 601939, SEHK: 0939, OTC Pink: CICHY) is one of the "big four" banks in the People's Republic of China. In 2015 CCB was the 2nd largest bank in the world by market capitalization and 6th largest company in the world. The bank has approximately 13,629 domestic branches. In addition, it maintains overseas branches in Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, New York, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland, and a wholly owned subsidiary in London. Its total assets reached CN¥ 8.7 trillion in 2009. Its headquarters is in Xicheng District, Beijing.
Contents
1 History
2 Investment by Bank of America
3 International expansion
4 Health fund
5 Stock exchange listing
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
History
China Construction Bank, Beijing
China Construction Bank, Hong Kong
China Construction Bank, Shenyang
CCB was founded on 1 October 1954 under the name of People's Construction Bank of China (Chinese: 中国人民建设银行; pinyin: Zhōngguó Rénmín Jiànshè Yínháng), and later changed to China Construction Bank on 26 March 1996.
In January 2002, CCB Chairman Wang Xuebing resigned from the bank after being charged with accepting bribes while he was employed with Bank of China; he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. In March 2005, his successor, Zhang Enzhao, resigned for "personal reasons". Just prior to his resignation, he had been charged in a lawsuit with accepting a US$1 million bribe. He was later sentenced to 15 years in jail in connection with the case.
China Construction Bank Corporation was formed as a joint-stock commercial bank in September 2004 as a result of a separation procedure undertaken by its predecessor, China Construction Bank, under the PRC Company Law. Following the China Banking Regulatory Committee's approval on 14 September 2004, the next day the bank (Jianyin) became a separate legal entity, owned by the Chinese government holding company, Central Huijin Investment Company or simply Huijin.
During the 2013 Korean crisis, the China Construction Bank halted business with a North Korean bank accused by the United States of financing Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.
In 2014, China Construction Bank ranks the 2nd in Forbes’ 11th annual Global 2000 ranking of the biggest, most powerful and most valuable companies in the world.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC; simplified Chinese: 中国工商银行; traditional Chinese: 中國工商銀行; pinyin: Zhōngguó Gōngshāng Yínháng, more commonly just 工行 Gōngháng) is a Chinese multinational banking company, and the largest bank in the world by total assets and by market capitalization. It is one of China's 'Big Four' state-owned commercial banks (the other three being the Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank). It was founded as a limited company on January 1, 1984. As of March 2014, it had assets of US$3.62 trillion. Generally considered the largest bank in the world by assets; it is the first Chinese bank to achieve such a feat. It ranks number 1 in The Banker's Top 1000 World Banks ranking and number 1 on Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's biggest public companies.
Contents
1 History
1.1 1999
1.2 2005
1.3 2006
1.3.1 World's largest IPO (at the time)
1.4 2008
1.5 2010
1.6 2011
1.7 2012
1.8 2013
1.9 2014
2 Basic figures
2.1 Loans by industry
2.1.1 Loan collateral
2.2 Non-performing loans
3 Environmental policy and record
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
History
Recentism.svg
This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. (September 2009)
1999
ICBC opened a branch in Luxembourg which became the European headquarters of the bank in 2011.ICBC (Europe) S.A. operates a network covering branches in major European cities, namely Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Warsaw and Lisbon.
2005
The bank's Hong Kong operations are listed under the name ICBC Asia. It has purchased the Hong Kong subsidiary of Fortis Bank and rebranded it under its own name on 10 October 2005.
2006
In the runup to its planned initial public offering, on 28 April 2006, three "strategic investors" injected US$3.7 billion into ICBC :
Goldman Sachs purchased a 5.75% stake for US$2.6 billion, the largest sum Goldman Sachs has ever invested-
Dresdner Bank (a wholly owned subsidiary of Commerzbank) invested US$1 billion.
American Express invested US$200 million.
World's largest IPO (at the time)
ICBC Bank in Beijing
The ICBC building in Xi'an
The ICBC building in Shanghai
The ICBC building in Tokyo
ICBC Canada
Torre Madero Office, the actual ICBC building in Buenos Aires
ICBC was simultaneously listed on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange on 27 October 2006. It was the world's largest IPO at that time valued at US$21.9 billion, surpassing the previous record US$18.4 billion IPO by Japan's NTT DoCoMo in 1998. In 2010, AgBank broke ICBC's IPO record when it raised $22.1 billion. China's largest commercial bank was also the first company to debut simultaneously on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.
ICBC raised at least US$14 billion in Hong Kong (H-shares) and another US$5.1 billion in Shanghai (A-shares). Due to heavy subscriptions, the greenshoe (i.e. over-allotment) placements were exercised and ICBC's take rose to US$21.9 billion (17% of ICBC's market value before the IPO), divided in US$16 billion in Hong Kong and US$5.9 billion in Shanghai. Following the global offering, the free float of shares was 22.14% of the market capitalization.
At the end of its first day of trading, the bank's shares closed up almost 15% at HK$3.52 in Hong Kong, compared with the listing price of HK$3.07, which was set at the top of the indicative range due to the strong demand. According to Bloomberg, ICBC's market capitalisation at the end of trade based on its Hong Kong shares was US$156.3 billion, making its equity the world's fifth highest among banks, just behind JPMorgan Chase. Meanwhile, ICBC's Shanghai-listed A-shares recorded more modest gains and ended up 5.1% from the offering price of RMB 3.12.
2008
In August 2008, ICBC became the second Chinese bank since 1991 to gain federal approval to establish a branch in New York City.
At the 2008 ALB China Law Awards, ICBC was crowned:
In-House of the Year - Banking & Financial Services In-House Team of the Year
In-House of the Year - China In-House Team of the Year
2010
In 2010, ICBC loaned $400 million towards the completion of the Gibe III dam in Ethiopia. Groups that oppose the dam such as International Rivers and Survival International have complained about or have written to ICBC against the dam's funding.
2011
On 20 May 2011, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. established two branches in Pakistan. One in Karachi while the other in Islamabad. On 18 August 2011, ICBC passed the examination from State Bank of Pakistan and started its business in Pakistan.
2012
2012 In November, ICBC acquired for $600 million 80% stake of Standard Bank Argentina and, six months later, the change was made in the 103 branches that the South American bank had in the country. It is the largest operation of a Chinese bank in Latin America. In Argentina, the bank has 1,000,000 individual customers, 30,000 companies of all categories and over 1600 corporate companies .
2013
During the 2013 Korean crisis, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China halted business with a North Korean bank accused by the United States of financing Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.
It was announced at the end of July 2013 that South Africa’s Standard Bank was in talks to sell its markets business in London to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for more than $500 million.
On September 24, 2014, ICBC Kuwait Branch officially opened in Kuwait City, capital of Kuwait. As the first and currently the only Chinese bank in Kuwait, the establishment of ICBC Kuwait Branch ended the history of no Chinese bank’s presence in Kuwait. Meanwhile, it is also the fourth branch of ICBC in the Middle East, following branches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdulmohsen Al-Madaj, Chairman of ICBC Jiang Jianqing, and China’s ambassador to Kuwait Cui Jianchun and other officials and guests attended the opening ceremony held in Kuwait City on September 24.
ICBC is not only the first Chinese bank to set up operating branches in the Middle East, but also the biggest Chinese bank in the region in terms of total number of branches and business scale. The establishment of ICBC Kuwait Branch has further optimized the Bank’s service network in the Middle East and represents another important achievement of the Bank’s international operation strategy. ICBC Kuwait Branch has full-suite banking license, offering high-quality financial products and diversified and comprehensive financial services tailored to customers’ needs. Meanwhile, it will continue cooperating with other ICBC institutions in the Middle East to upgrade its comprehensive service capability in Kuwait.
As discussed by ICBC Senior Officials, the bank is open to alternative banking and financing and would like to seek more guidance on best practices.
2014 was an outstanding year for ICBC, ranking 1st in the Top 1000 World Banks, based on tier 1 capital, and also being recognised as The Banker's Global Bank of the Year.
Basic figures
As of 2006, ICBC has 2.5 million corporate customers and 150 million individual customers. In 2005, net profit was up 12.4% to RMB 33.7 billion, and the total loan balance was RMB 3,289.5 billion. Total liabilities are RMB 6,196.2 billion, up 11.2%. Delinquent or non-performing loans (NPL) total RMB 154.4 billion, a significant reduction although the figures are widely regarded as being somewhat higher than officially stated. It has an NPL ratio of 4.69% and a capital adequacy ratio of 9.89%.
As of December 2, 2014, ICBC is ranked the largest bank in the world by assets and by tier 1 capital. In July 2007 it was ranked 30th in the world in terms of revenue.
Loans by industry
In millions of Chinese RMB (Yuan) in 2005:
Manufacturing: 662,376, 20.1% (28.7% in 2004)
Transportation, storage, postage & telecommunications: 367,371, 11.2% (10.2% in 2004)
Power, gas and water: 281,179, 8.6% (7.0% in 2004)
Retail and wholesale, catering: 265,906, 8.1% (6.9% in 2004)
Property development: 194,024, 5.9%, (5.6% in 2004)
Social service organization: 103,070, 3.1%, (3.2% in 2004)
Construction: 89,666, 2.7%, (2.1% in 2004)
Other industries: 313,804, 9.5%, (12.1% in 2004)
Discounted bills: 392,717, 11.9%, (8.4% in 2004)
Personal loans: 515,042, 15.7%, (13.1% in 2004)
Overseas business:104,398, 3.2%, (2.7% in 2004)
Total: 3,289,553
Loan collateral
Secured by mortgages: 34.1%
Secured by other collateral: 22.1%
Guaranteed loans: 23.3%
Unsecured loans: 20.5%
Non-performing loans
At the end of 2004, 19.1% of ICBC's portfolio consisted of non-performing loans. In order to clean up ICBC's balance sheet and prepare it for overseas listing, the Chinese government orchestrated a series of capital injections, asset transfers, and government-subsidised bad loan disposals that eventually cost more than US$162 billion. This included an approval for a cash injection of US$15 billion (financed from China's massive foreign exchange reserves) on 28 April 2005. The Beijing-based state company, China Huarong, helped ICBC dispose of its bad loans. As the 2005 annual report records, just under 5% of loans are classified as non-performing, in comparison with the majority of western banks who have lower NPL ratios (US commercial banks around 1%).
Environmental policy and record
In 2008 ICBC was the first Chinese Bank to adopt the Equator Principles, an international set of social and environmental standards for financial institutions launched in 2003.It has also adopted the Green Credit Policy launched in 2007 by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection. International environmental groups have criticized ICBC for failing to adhere to its social environmental standards and of being hypocritical, because ICBC is involved in the financing of the controversial Gilgel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia.
