The industry's first! Bank of Communications plans to apply for the revocation of its private banking license, which it has held and operated under for 13 years to date.

Caixin News March 24, reporting (Reporter Guo Zishuo): Today, market sources said that Bank of Communications plans to apply to revoke its private banking专营机构 license.

Caixin News learned from insiders at Bank of Communications that the information is true, but the bank has not yet officially submitted the relevant application.

According to public information, Bank of Communications’ Private Banking Department was approved in 2012 to operate with a license, and it has been operating for more than 13 years. By confirming the application to revoke the license at this time, Bank of Communications will become the first commercial bank in the industry to make this choice.

Data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration’s financial license information lookup shows that currently a total of five banks hold licenses for private banking专营机构, namely: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Industrial Bank, and Hengfeng Bank. Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was approved in 2008 and is the first licensed institution; Hengfeng Bank was approved to open in August 2022, and is the most recent licensed private banking专营机构.

In December 2025, at the head-office level, Bank of Communications officially consolidated and established a “Wealth Management Department.” At that time, Bank of Communications Vice President Zhou Wanfu said that the bank established the wealth management department at the head-office level to further strengthen its distinctive wealth finance capabilities and enhance customer service.

From operating data, Bank of Communications’ 2025 semiannual report shows that at the end of the reporting period, the number of retail customers of domestic banking institutions was 202 million (including debit card customers and credit card customers), up 1.30% from the end of the previous year; the number of eligible Wealth-Grade customers was 2.8321 million, up 6.76% from the end of the previous year. AUM totaled 57,925.53 billion yuan, up 5.52% from the end of the previous year.

During the same period, the Group’s private banking customer count was 102,600, up 8.94% from the end of the previous year; the Group’s private banking customers’ assets under management were 1,388.874 billion yuan, up 7.20% from the end of the previous year.

Huge amounts of information, precise analysis—only on the Sina Finance app