The former is a regional organization mainly made up of Asian and European nations whose funding will be focused on infrastructure projects in the two continents, while the BRICS bank's scope will span a more diverse geography.

AIIB will also be more commercial-oriented, said Huang, while the BRICS bank will have a distinctly geopolitical flavor, "and also serve as a dialogue mechanism among the five countries".

It is possible their activities may overlap, Huang said, in some cases even compete each other in projects, insisting however that competition is not necessarily a bad thing.

Fan Yongming, director of the Center for BRICS Studies at Fudan University, said that "the BRICS bank represents the unified force of the emerging economies - it is a global, strategic bloc", adding the bank will not only complement, but also challenge the established organizations.

Time line

February 2012: The group's five finance ministers propose the bank at the G20 Summit.

March 2012: BRICS Development Bank officially put on the agenda at the fourth BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India.

March 2013: The fifth BRICS Summit held in Durban, South Africa, decided to establish the BRICS Development Bank.

July 2014: At the sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, the countries officially announce the setting up of the BRICS Development Bank, to be headquartered in Shanghai.

March 9, 2015: Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a decree to approve the creation of the BRICS Development Bank.

May 11, 2015: India names K. V. Kamath as the first president.

May 12, 2015: China appoints Zhu Xian as vice-president.