The share acquisition was completed on 9 January 2017 .Yue Yi, vice-chairman and chief executive of BOC Hong Kong (Holdings), said: “Following the acquisition of Bank of China (Malaysia) Berhad and the opening of a branch in Brunei, Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) is expanding its presence in Southeast Asia by acquiring BOC Thailand. It marks a new step forward in implementing BOC Group’s overseas development strategy and speeding up BOCHK’s transformation into a regional bank.

“Leveraging BOCHK’s well-developed financial product platform, professional expertise and resources, we will adopt a regional management approach in fostering collaboration among the institutions in Southeast Asia and enhancing BOC Group’s overall business strength and market competitiveness in the region.

“In recent years, the Thai government has introduced a number of measures to promote its economic development and attract overseas investment. BOC Thailand has been planting its roots in Thailand for over two decades,” Yue said.“It will continue to capitalise on BOC Group’s abundant customer resources and diversified financial product and service platform to help more mainland enterprises going global invest in Thailand. In addition, it will enhance its services to better serve local enterprises, institutions and personal customers, and provide premium financial services and support to the economic and trade development between China and Thailand, as well as Thailand’s economy.”

As the first Chinese bank operating in Thailand, Bank of China established its representative office in Bangkok in 1994. It was upgraded to a branch, and then transformed into a subsidiary. Upon completion, BOC Thailand will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of BOC Hong Kong (Holdings), and the assets, liabilities and financial results of BOC Thailand will be consolidated into the financial accounts of BOC Hong Kong (Holdings).

Source:The Nation