Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Acquires Control of The Bank of East Asia (Canada)

On January 28, 2010, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC), the largest wholesale and retail bank in China by total assets and in the world by client deposits, acquired a 70 per cent interest in and control of The Bank of East Asia (Canada), the wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of The Bank of East Asia, Limited (BEA), the largest independent local bank in Hong Kong. The Minister of Finance approved the transaction on January 21, 2010.

The Bank of East Asia (Canada) is a Canadian chartered bank and operates a network of six branches in Toronto and Vancouver, offering both retail and corporate banking services.
As joint owners, ICBC and BEA will continue to cooperate in the operations and management of BEA (Canada).

ICBC was represented by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP with a team that included Patricia Olasker, Darren Wasylucha, Michael Lee and Jeffrey MacKenzie (corporate); Scott Hyman (bank regulatory) and Mark Katz (competition); and by Linklaters in China and Hong Kong with a team that included Paul Chow, Kevin Cheung and Daphne Yew.

BEA was represented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP with a team that included Jeremy Fraiberg, Robert Hughes and Tara Law (corporate).