Shares of China Merchants Bank Co. fell 0.9% to HK$34.20 in early Hong Kong trading Friday after the Federal Reserve announced Thursday it had approved the bank's plan to open a branch in New York.

The approval is reportedly the first time the U.S. central bank has given the go-ahead to a Chinese bank since a 1991 law went into effect which required closer supervision of foreign financial institutions.

The Federal Reserve said the bank would engage in wholesale deposit-taking, lending, trade finance, and other banking services.

China Merchants Bank, China's sixth largest lender by assets, in indirectly controlled by the Chinese government and has $145.6 billion in assets, according to the Federal Reserve Statement.

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