ANZ, Australia's third-largest bank, has acquired 19.9 per cent in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank for A$318 million ($263 million) after a four-year regulatory delay. SRCB is China's largest rural commercial bank, with 330 branches and about 2.5 million retail customers. ANZ first signed a strategic agreement with SRCB in 2003, when it was a credit union and had yet to be granted a banking licence. The deal was delayed by Chinese regulators over concerns about the transition. ANZ subsequently acquired 19.9 per cent of Tianjin City Commercial Bank last year. China does not allow foreigners to hold interests in more than two banks. The deal's completion highlighted the bank's decision to make "big strategic bets in Asia" at the expense of Australian wealth management, said JPMorgan banking analyst Brian Johnson.