ICBC wins nod to open NY branch

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has secured official approval from the U.S. Federal Reserve to open its first U.S. branch in New York City, a landmark move of the largest Chinese lender's global strategy.

The Fed said in a statement that the ICBC New York branch will principally engaged in wholesale deposit taking, lending, trade finance and other banking service. Its capital levels have exceeded the minimum requirements stipulated in the Basel Capital Accord and are considered equivalent to level required of a U.S. banking organization.

ICBC set up a representative office in New York in 1997.

Last month, China Merchants Bank Co (CMB), the country's sixth-largest bank by assets, had been granted with an official banking license by the New York State Banking Department to open a branch in New York City, becoming the first Chinese bank to be licensed in the United States since 1991.