PBOC Says It’s Processing American Express Application for Bank Card Clearing Entity

The Chinese central bank has indicated that it has started to review an application from an American Express subsidiary to do business in China.

On 8 January the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) released its “Inventory of the Central Bank’s 2019 Financial Sector Foreign Openings” (盘点央行的2019|金融业对外开放), revealing that it had started to review the application from an American Express joint-venture to commence business as a bank card clearing entity.

On 9 November 2018 PBOC publicly announced that it had examined and approved the bank card clearing entity preparatory application submitted by Liantong Company (连通公司) – American Express’s Hangzhou-based Chinese joint-venture.

American Express Travel Related Service holds a 49% equity stake in Liantong Company, while American Express Marketing Development holds another 1% of equity.

Lianlian Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (连连数字科技有限公司) holds a 50% stake in Liantong Company, whose total registered capital is one billion yuan.

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