BEIJING BANK LOVE BIG SPENDER
Rarely is a bank praised for being "not entirely motivated by profit".
But the Bank of Credit and Commerce (BCC) is a curious bank. Its ownership is Middle Eastern, its founder Pakistani and its professed customer base international with a Third World bias. The headquarters are in Luxembourg. And, in China and Hong Kong, the management is drawn mainly from the Indian sub-continent.
The group, which operates a network spanning 72 countries with the Bank of Credit and Commerce International as its holding company, has total assets of US$16.5 billion with a net worth of US$1.5 billion. It has a locally-incorporated bank in Hong Kong, a branch in the neighbouring Chinese special economic zone of Shenzhen, a representative office in Beijing and a newly-established joint venture in Shanghai, formed for the purpose of channelling investment funds into China.
At a time when foreign bank in both China and Hong Kong are becoming increasingly cost-conscious and cutting frills, BCC has been spending money teaching communist officials the art of banking.
One American banker confessed himself nonplussed. He said: "Training costs time, money and manpower. Besides, it is cheaper to make money if Chinese bankers are kept ignorant of the workings of the international markets.