The Bank of China (BOC) Wednesday decided to merge its existing supervision and audit departments into one, in a bid to reinforce the internal supervision efficiency and prevent problems similar to a recent fraud case at the bank's Hesongjie branch in northeast Heilongjiang Province.

The bank also planned to expand the staff of the original two departments from 20 to 90 for the new one, said BOC spokesman Wang Zhaowen.

The combination and expansion will help enhance the independence of internal supervision, while the original supervision and audit departments took charge of case investigation and business auditing separately, Wang said.

The new department is expected to oversee the bank's overall business operations, risk control, institutional construction and performance of its managers at various levels, he said.

Empowered to investigate malpractice and to propose penalties, the new department will supervise all divisions of the Beijing-based headquarters, first-level sub-branches throughout the country and the bank's overseas organs.

The move is seen as a response to the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), which had ordered the bank to step up its risk control after a fraud case exposed at the bank's Hesongjie sub-branch in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province.

The case reportedly involved funds worth hundreds of millions of yuan. Director and other staff of the bank division suspected of embezzlement all disappeared.

The bank has promised to release information about the case in time.

The BOC is one of China's four state-owned commercial banks. Its Hong Kong subsidiary's shares are traded in Hong Kong and New York and the parent bank is also seeking a stock market debut.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2005)