(7) annual reports for the most recent three years of the shareholder of the proposed wholly foreign-funded bank or Chinese-foreign joint venture bank, or of the foreign bank applying to establish a branch;

(8) anti-money laundering systems adopted by the shareholder of the proposed wholly foreign-funded bank or Chinese-foreign joint venture bank, or by the foreign bank applying to establish a branch;

(9) photocopies of the business licence or the financial services permit, and the written opinions on the application issued by the financial regulatory authority of the home country or region of the shareholder of the proposed wholly foreign-funded bank, or of the foreign shareholder of the proposed Chinese-foreign joint venture bank, or of the foreign bank applying to establish a branch; and

(10) other documents specified by the banking regulatory agency of the State Council.

The banking regulatory agency in the place where the proposed bank is to be established shall submit the application documents together with its examination opinion to the banking regulatory agency of the State Council in due time.

Article 15 The banking regulatory agency of the State Council shall, within six months from the date of receiving the complete application documents required for the preparation for an operational foreign-funded bank, make a decision to approve or not to approve the preparation application and notify the applicant of such decision in writing; if deciding not to approve the preparation application, give the reasons thereof.

Where, in special circumstances, the banking regulatory agency of the State Council cannot complete the examination and make a decision to approve or not to approve the preparation application within the time limit prescribed in the preceding paragraph, it may appropriately extend the examination time limit and shall notify the applicant of the extension in writing; however, the extended time limit shall not exceed three months.

The applicant shall, by presenting the approval document for the preparation, obtain an application form for business commencement from the banking regulatory agency in the place where the proposed bank is to be established.

Article 16 The applicant shall complete the preparation of the proposed bank within six months from the date of obtaining the approval for preparation. Where the applicant fails to complete the preparation within the prescribed time limit, it shall provide the reasons thereof; and with the approval by the banking regulatory agency in the place where the proposed bank is to be established, the applicant may extend the preparation period for three months. Where the applicant fails to complete the preparation within the extended period, the decision of approval for the preparation issued by the banking regulatory agency of the State Council shall automatically become void.

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