text: In June 2009, ICBC spent 80.25 million Canadian dollars (US$58.53 million) to acquire a 70% stake in the Bank of East Asia (BEA). By the end of 2009, the number of credit cards issued exceeded 52 million, a 33% increase equivalent to nearly 13 million cards compared to the previous year. Including other types of bank cards, this bank has issued more than 280 million cards, becoming the 4th largest credit card issuer in the world.
  On 24 January 2011, ICBC opened a branch office in Madrid. On 20 May 2011, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. established two branches in Pakistan, one in Karachi and the other in Islamabad. On 18 August 2011, ICBC passed the examination from State Bank of Pakistan and started its business in Pakistan.
  During November 2012, ICBC acquired from Standard Bank a 80% stake (valued at $600 million) of the former subsidiary of BankBoston in Argentina, which Standard Bank had purchased in 2006. This was the largest operation of a Chinese bank in Latin America. In Argentina, the bank has ~1,000,000 individual customers, ~30,000 companies of all categories and more than 1600 corporate companies.
  During the 2013 Korean crisis, ICBC halted business with a North Korean bank accused by the United States of financing Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs.