(Yicai Global) Oct. 28 -- The Shanghai bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has given China Zheshang Bank the green light to set up a capital management center in the city, making it the fifth commercial bank approved to open such a hub in China this year.

The center will handle money market business, bonds, foreign exchange, precious metals, financial derivatives, and other fund operations approved by the regulator and authorized by the lender’s head office, the Hangzhou-based bank said yesterday. 

CZBank is the fourth commercial lender to be permitted to establish a capital management center in Shanghai this year after Agricultural Bank of China, Hengfeng Bank, and China Guangfa Bank. China Bohai Bank based its in Beijing.

CZBank’s capital management center will help it carry out financial market-related business more easily, Zeng Gang, deputy director of the National Institution for Finance and Development, told Yicai Global. 

Such centers help banks make more efficient use of capital and expand the scope of their capital business, according to the head of one. Effective allocation of interbank liabilities can ease the debt pressure on lenders, strengthen asset and liability management, and boost profits, he said.

CZBank’s capital management center license also covers primary dealing in the open market, interbank market making, as well as gold and silver market making at the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Yicai Global learned.

CZBank’s shares sank today amid a selloff in Chinese stocks. In Shanghai, the company’s shares [SHA: 601916] fell 1.8 percent to finish at CNY2.75 (38 US cents) each, while its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 2016] lost 3.2 percent to HKD2.71 (35 US cents). 

Editor: Martin Kadiev