A vice-chairman and two board members have left the Bank of Communications (BoCom), a statement released on the bank's website said.

The decision will take effect from August 1.

Personnel movements within the bank are closely monitored as BoCom was the first Chinese bank to be listed on an overseas market.

Qiao Wei, the bank's vice-chairman, executive director and executive vice-president, 60, is scheduled to retire, after serving 14 years at BoCom.

As well as Qiao, two other board members Raymond Or and Li Ruge resigned, although for different reasons, according to BoCom's announcement.

Li was sent by Shandong Electric Power Corp to sit on the board of directors at BoCom as its representative.

He has resigned because he no longer works for Shandong Electric Power Corp, according to the announcement.

Or's resignation is a result of his new appointment in May as chief executive officer (CEO) and vice-chairman at Hang Seng Bank Ltd, the announcement said.

Industry insiders say Or's resignation is part of an internal arrangement involving the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), which owns BoCom stock. It is among a slew of other top executive shifts within the group.

In May this year, David Eldon retired as HSBC chairman, with Vincent Cheng replacing him. Cheng was previously the CEO and vice-chairman at Hang Seng Bank, in which HSBC has a controlling stake of 62.14 percent.

As the new CEO of Hang Seng Bank, Or is no longer the right person to be one of HSBC's representatives on BoCom's board of directors, industry analysts said.

They say he resigned to focus his efforts on improving Hang Seng's business.

(China Daily July 26, 2005)