Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Explained

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co. Ltd
Native Name:上海浦东发展银行
Type:Public company
State-owned enterprise
Industry:Banking, finance
Location:Shanghai, China
Key People:Gao Guofu (Chairman)
Zhu Yuchen (President)
Products:Financial services

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, branded as Pufa Bank in Chinese and SPD Bank in English, is a city-owned joint-stock commercial bank. It was established in 1993 and owned by the Shanghai Municipal Government.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank issued a 400 million A-share offer on 23 September 1993, on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It became the first shareholding commercial bank to list with both Central Bank and China Securities Regulatory Commission’s approval since the enactment of "Commercial Bank Law" and "Securities Law". The registered capital reached RMB 2.41 billion. 320 million shares of the issue were listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 10 November 1999 (stock code 600000).[1]

History

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank partnered with Silicon Valley Bank in 2012 to create a separate Shanghai-based bank to lend to local technology startups.[2] It was the first Sino-American joint venture bank.[3]

In 2019, it was reported that the bank was under investigation for alleged money laundering and sanctions violations involving the North Korean regime.[4] [5] The bank allegedly moved money for the Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that was used to finance the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.[6]

Criticism

Misappropriation in Chengdu

In April 2017, news broke that the Chengdu branch of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD Bank) was involved in a massive bad debt scandal amounting to hundreds of billions of yuan. This money was allegedly manipulated by four individuals through over 2,000 shell companies.[7] Although SPD Bank initially denied any wrongdoing, it later admitted to irregularities at the branch. The Chengdu branch manager subsequently retired and was replaced by the manager of the Kunming branch.[8]

Exploiting the image of deceased firefighters for advertising

An advertising campaign by SPD Bank sparked public outrage for exploiting the image of firefighters who died in the Liangshan forest fire to promote a credit card debt exemption service.[9] Specifically, on the evening of 2 April 2019, SPD Bank's credit card center posted a poster stating "Exemption of outstanding credit card debts of martyrs in the Liangshan fire."[10] [11] This act was strongly condemned for being disrespectful to the sacrifice of the firefighters. By the afternoon of 3 April, SPD Bank had to publicly apologize and request the removal of the image.[12]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.spdb.com.cn/docpage/c511/200605/0519_511_13975.aspx Shanghai Pudong Development Bank
  2. News: Muncaster . Phil . 20 August 2012 . Silicon Valley comes to China to spur tech innovation . . live . 11 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170926235347/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/20/china_silicon_valley_bank_innovate/ . 26 September 2017.
  3. Web site: Silicon Valley Bank's China venture says operations 'sound' . 12 March 2023 . . en-GB . 12 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312054741/https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Finance/Silicon-Valley-Bank-s-China-venture-says-operations-sound . live .
  4. News: Chinese bank involved in probe on North Korean sanctions and money laundering faces financial 'death penalty'. Hsu. Spencer. 24 June 2019. Washington Post. 29 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190627055049/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/chinese-bank-involved-in-probe-on-north-korean-sanctions-and-money-laundering-faces-financial-death-penalty/2019/06/22/0ccef3ba-81be-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html. 27 June 2019. live.
  5. News: U.S. appeals court upholds ruling against Chinese banks in North Korea sanctions probe. Wolfe. Jan. 31 July 2019. Reuters. 12 August 2019. Brunnstrom. David. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20190812042008/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-banks-idUSKCN1UQ03U. 12 August 2019. live.
  6. News: Chinese banks respond to report of U.S. subpoena battle in North Korea sanctions probe. Hsu. Spencer. 25 June 2019. Washington Post. 29 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190629001339/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/chinese-banks-respond-to-report-of-us-subpoena-battle-in-north-korea-sanctions-probe/2019/06/25/df175d2c-9770-11e9-8d0a-5edd7e2025b1_story.html. 29 June 2019. live.
  7. Web site: 独家浦发成都分行违规事件还原 借壳公司腾挪风险资产 . 2024-10-10 . finance.caixin.com.
  8. Web site: 浦发银行回应成都分行"千亿资金"事件:客户权益未受影响 . 2024-10-10 . zh-CN.
  9. Web site: 用凉山火灾烈士姓名做广告 浦发信用卡致歉:将严肃追责 . 2024-10-10 . www.peopleapp.com . zh.
  10. Web site: 北京青年报 . 2019-04-03 . Vanilla gift balance . 2024-10-10 . news.sina.com.cn.
  11. Web site: 用凉山火灾烈士姓名做广告 浦发信用卡致歉:将严肃追责-新闻中心-中国宁波网 . 2024-10-10 . news.cnnb.com.cn.
  12. Web site: 北京青年报 . 2019-04-03 . 被指借凉山牺牲英雄发广告 浦发银行道歉 . 2024-10-10 . news.sina.com.cn.