The Bank of China (BOC) may soon become the first Chinese state-owned commercial bank to own an insurance arm in the mainland market.

The BOC Insurance Co Ltd, which was restructured from the Shenzhen branch of BOC's Hong Kong-incorporated subsidiary of Bank of China Group Insurance Co Ltd, is expected to become operational early next year, sources said.

"We have sent registration application materials to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and are waiting for reply," an official with the Bank of China Group Insurance said.

The new insurer, which holds HK$ 500 million yuan (US$64 million) in registered capital and will be headquartered in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, will mean the BOC is the first Chinese bank to have absolute control of a mainland insurance company.

Chinese regulations require banking, insurance and securities to be operated separately, although regulators have shown an inclination to allow integrated operations, or universal banking, to help domestic financial service providers improve competitiveness.

The BOC, which received a US$22.5 billion capital injection from the Chinese Government late last year and is preparing for an initial public offering, also has a securities business through a Hong Kong-based subsidiary.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest State-owned commercial bank, owns a minority stake in Taiping Insurance through a subsidiary in Hong Kong.

Two other Chinese financial conglomerates - China Everbright and CITIC - have joint venture insurance subsidiaries with foreign partners.

"The Bank of China has just taken an important step in the direction of universal banking," said Tuo Guozhu, a professor with the Beijing-based Capital University of Economics and Business.

"But owning a wholly-owned insurance subsidiary will give it absolute control and make it easier for the insurer to tap the bank's resources," he said.

The BOC owns 3.8 trillion yuan (US$458 billion) in total assets and has 11,609 domestic outlets, according to its website. The BOC Insurance aims to be "China's best property insurer" and will be providing quality financial services mainly by "relying on the sprawling network and huge client resources of the Bank of China" and focusing on bank assurance, it said in a statement on the BOC website on Tuesday.

The insurer is currently recruiting senior officials through the website, including one chief operating officer and two deputy general managers. Applicants are required to submit by next Monday.

"Quite a good number of people have been called in to consult," said one employee at Bank of China Group Insurance's Shenzhen branch, who declined to be named.

But allowing a bank to directly own an insurance business will make supervision more difficult than is the case with joint ventures, analysts warn.

(China Daily December 27, 2004)