Wing Hang Bank

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Wing Hang Bank Limited Banco Weng Hang S.A.

Type	Public - SEHK: 0302
Founded	Guangzhou, China (1937)
Headquarters	Hong Kong, Macau
Key people	Patrick Fung, CEO
Products	Banks, credit cards
Employees	2,263 (end-2003)
Website	www.whbhk.com/

Wing Hang Bank Limited (ChT: 永亨銀行, pinyin: Yǒnghēng Yínháng) is Hong Kong's sixth biggest bank by total assets. In Macau it is known as Banco Weng Hang S.A.. In fiscal 2003, the bank had total assets of HK$89 billion, and net profits of HK$864 million.

[edit] History

The bank was founded in 1937 in Guangzhou, and opened its first branch in Macau in 1941. It was incorporated as a banking company in 1960.

Irving Trust acquired a majority stake in 1973, but when Irving Trust merged with Bank of New York in 1988, the latter gradually started to sell down its stake in Wing Hang. As of 2005, the Bank of New York owns 20% of Wing Hang Bank.

Wing Hang acquired Chekiang First Bank in 2003 for HK$4.8 billion. At the time, Wing Hang had 27 branches in Hong Kong and 11 branches in Macau through its Macau subsidiary. It also had a branch office in Shenzhen and representative offices in Guangzhou and Shanghai. As of 31 December, 2002, Wing Hang had total assets of HK$57.1 billion.

Chekiang First Bank was a bank in Hong Kong. Japan's Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank (now the Mizuho Corporate Bank), had acquired the bank some years earlier. Chekiang First Bank was founded in Shanghai and was re-established in Hong Kong in 1950. At the time of the merger with Wing Hang it had 17 branches in Hong Kong, a wholly-owned subsidiary in Luxembourg, an agency in San Francisco and a representative office in Shanghai. As of 31 December, 2002, Chekiang First had total assets of HK$27.8 billion. Wing Hang subsequent re-branded all services under the Wing Hang brand.