Standard Chartered Bank said yesterday it has spent US$40 million to acquire four floors of a Pudong office building to serve as its future personal banking call center on the Chinese mainland.

The United Kingdom-based bank bought 7,614 square meters of space in the UC tower, a grade-A office building near the Century Avenue Metro Station, a hub site that connects lines two and four and will ultimately link four lines by 2010.

This purchase was Standard Charter's second in a year in the city's financial hub.

In January, the bank acquired naming rights as well as the use of a prime plot in Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone for more than US$40 million from Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development Co Ltd.

The oldest foreign bank in the mainland said it will relocate its mainland headquarters, Shanghai branch and related functions into the building, an office tower to be constructed by the Lujiazui company by 2008.

Standard Chartered is joining a number of overseas financial giants such as HSBC and Citigroup to increase their presence in the mainland, which is scheduled to fully open its financial sector by the end of the year under the country's commitment to the World Trade Organization.

All three financial institutions have purchased naming rights to office towers in Lujiazui after renting large amounts of space to raise their profiles in the world's most populous consumer market.

Construction also continues on several office towers for major domestic financial institutions such as China Merchants Bank, Ping An Group and Minsheng Bank.

"The next few years will see a significant shift in terms of Lujiazui's position against the market as a whole. Lujiazui will have much more impact in the market and dictate rentals," said Nigel Barnes, director of global corporate services, DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, a real estate service firm.

The UC tower, developed by state-owned Shanghai Urban Construction Group, a major builder of the city's infrastructure, has achieved an occupancy rate of 85 percent since it went into operation in August.

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