Allied Bank was incorporated on April 1, 1977 and granted by the Central Bank of the Philippines the Certificate of Authority to operate as a commercial bank on May 20, 1977. It began its operations on June 2, 1977 with around 26 branches. In December 1981, it officially became an expanded commercial bank or universal bank. Today, Allied Bank operates a total of 288 domestic branches/offices, including its subsidiaries Allied Savings Bank (27 branches), Allied Leasing and Finance Corporation, and the PNB Life Insurance, Inc.-formerly New York Life Insurance Philippines, Inc (NYLIP)-which was acquired by the Bank in 2007. Aside from its local branch network, Allied Bank also operates 2 offshore branches in Bahrain and in Guam; a wholly-owned subsidiary in the United Kingdom (Allied Bank Philippines (UK) Plc) and a majority-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong (Allied Banking Corporation (Hong Kong), Ltd.); a majority-owned commercial bank subsidiary in Xiamen, China (Allied Commercial Bank); and an affiliate commercial bank based in California, U.S.A. (Oceanic Bank), with offshore branches in San Francisco (Union Square Branch) and in Guam (Guam Branch). Representative offices were also established in Germany, Singapore and Australia, and consultancies/remittance desks in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. As of June 30, 2009, Allied Bank was ranked 8th largest private domestic bank in the country in terms of total deposits, total assets and net worth.