The Bank of China is facing a daily fine in the US if it does not comply with a court request to give details of customers accused of selling fake goods.
The state-owned lender was held in contempt of court in Manhattan last week for refusing to turn over the records.
The bank is appealing the civil contempt order and fine of $50,000 a day starting on December 8.
The BOC said it would be violating China’s privacy law if it gave the information.
The records stem from a 2010 lawsuit by a group of luxury retailers including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent that sued a group of Chinese companies for allegedly selling counterfeits goods like handbags.
The luxury brands had asked US district judge Richard Sullivan to order the BOC to pay $12 million to cover their losses from counterfeiting or impose a fine.
The judge had initially ordered the BOC to provide the customer information in 2011 and then renewed the order in September.
“BOC’s refusal to comply with US law, while it continues to receive the benefits attendant to its banking activity in the US, has inflicted a significant harm on plaintiffs and the general public,” Richard Sullivan said.
“Only a large fine will have a coercive effect on BOC at this stage.”
He has also ordered the top-four Chinese lender to cover the retailers’ legal costs.
But the BOC said the judge lacked the jurisdiction to force its compliance.
The BOC is China’s fourth biggest lender by assets and made a profit of nearly $28 billion in 2014.
A bag with NZ$1 million ($667,000) went missing after it fell while being moved at Hong Kong International Airport.
The bag was one of 13, holding a total NZ$10 million, being sent to the Bank of China in Hong Kong from New Zealand, Chinese media said.
Three bags reportedly fell off after being unloaded from a Cathay Pacific flight on July 17. Airport staff who went to retrieve them found only two.
The airline said police were investigating.
Reports in China said surveillance footage broadcast in China showed the three unfastened bags falling from a trailer as it turned a corner.
When staff realized the bags were missing 10 minutes later, they returned, the website said.
Chinese media said police were treating the disappearance of the bag as theft.
A statement by the airline said: “Cathay Pacific transported a valuable cargo shipment last Friday night to Hong Kong.
“Upon arrival, it was transferred to the cargo terminal where part of the shipment was found missing. As the case is under police investigation, we are unable to provide further details.”
G4S International Logistics, that was transporting the money to the Bank of China, said the money was safe until it entered the controlled airside section of the airport – a section to which their staff have no access.
The money was insured, the company said.
China’s central bank has cut its benchmark interest rates for the second time in two months, in a bid to arrest slowing economic growth.
Benchmark lending rates will be cut from 6.31% to 6%, while deposit rates will fall from 3.25% to 3%.
The rate cuts will come into force on Friday and closely follow on from the last cuts made on 7 June.
Before these moves, the People’s Bank of China had not cut interest rates since 2008.
China’s central bank has cut its benchmark interest rates for the second time in two months
Commenting on the move, Rupert Armitage, director at Shore Capital, said: “China are cutting rates because they’re experiencing a slowdown.
“Everybody’s been concerned about the economy, but now they’re actually doing something about it.”
The central bank’s rate cuts come on the back of a gradual liberalization of China’s banking system.
Banks can now compete on the interest rates they offer customers, within a stipulated range.
China’s export growth has been hit by a fall in demand from two of its biggest markets, the US and Europe, still struggling with the global debt crisis.
China’s economy grew at an annual rate of 8.1% in the first quarter, the slowest pace in almost three years.
It hopes lower interest rates will help boost domestic demand.
