Ka Wah Bank was a Hong Kong–based bank that operated between 1923 and 1998 when it was acquired by CITIC Group.
In 1998, the bank was acquired by CITIC International Financial Holdings and renamed as CITIC Ka Wah Bank Limited (中信嘉華銀行有限公司) and then in May 2010, CITIC Ka Wah Bank Limited was renamed as China CITIC Bank International.
History
The bank was founded in 1923 as Ka Wah Ngan Ho (嘉華銀號) in Guangzhou by Dr. Lam Chi Fung, the founding president of Hong Kong Baptist College. Its name, Ka Wah, was derived from the names of Ka Nam Tong and Nam Wah Company.
In 1926 Ka Wah Savings Bank Limited (嘉華儲蓄銀行有限公司) was founded in Hong Kong. Ka Wah Ngan Ho in Guangzhou then became Ka Wah Savings Bank's Guangzhou Branch. That same year the bank was renamed as Ka Wah Bank Public Limited Company (嘉華銀行公眾有限公司).
In 1931 the bank established a Shanghai branch. During the World War II period the branches in Shanghai and Guangzhou were closed. The Hong Kong branch was reopened in 1945 and in 1949 the bank was renamed as Ka Wah Bank Limited.
C.S. Low (Low Chung Song, 刘灿松), a Singapore businessman and banker, led a takeover of Ka Wah Bank in December 1974 from a group of U.S. investors.