Cathay known China under names similar to "Cathay", that country was known to the peoples of South-East Asia and India under names similar to "China" (cf. e.g. "Cina" in modern Malay). Meanwhile, in China itself, people usually referred to their nation state based on the name of the ruling dynasty, e.g. "Da Ming Guo" ("the kingdom of the Great Ming"), or as the "Middle Kingdom" ("Zhongguo" 中國); see also Names of China for details. When the Portuguese reached South-East Asia (Afonso de Albuquerque conquering Malacca in 1511) and the southern coast of China (Jorge Álvares reaching the Pearl River estuary in
Cathay United Bank Bank with the National Bank of Cambodia’s approval, acquired a 70% stake in Singapore Banking Corporation (SBC). SBC was founded in 1993 and has 6 branches and 10 exchange offices in Cambodia. A year later in September 2013, Cathay United Bank reached an agreement with the remaining shareholders of SBC to acquire the remaining 30% shares. In January 2014, the name was changed to Cathay United Bank Cambodia (CUBC). To expand its banking operations in Asia, in December 2014, CUB through its sister company and life insurance arm of Cathay Financial Holding, Cathay Life Insurance, acquired a 22% share (approximately