Standard Chartered Bank (China) has become the first foreign bank to be granted a domestic fund custody license by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
With this license, Standard Chartered China will be able to directly participate in and provide custody-related services to investment products offered by domestic funds and asset managers in China.
With the continued expansion of China’s economy and its corresponding growth in personal wealth, there is a growing demand for more sophisticated investment products and professional services, according to Standard Chartered.
The news comes after Standard Chartered completed a pension plan reform and introduced unified asset management industry guidelines. It is also expected to introduce bond futures and other derivatives products in the future.
China is the third largest equity and bond market in the world, with the total market size close to $20 trillion.
Bill Winters, group chief executive of Standard Chartered, commented: “China is of strategic importance to Standard Chartered. We are honoured to be the first international bank to be granted this license, which coincides with the Bank celebrating its uninterrupted operations in China for the past 160 years.”
He added: “With the inclusion of Chinese shares by major world indices, China is already being recognised as a major financial market. We are excited to be part of this process as we work closely to support our clients in their custody needs.”
Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of securities services and transaction banking at Standard Chartered, said: “As a leading international custodian and an active market participant, it is our commitment to bring our integrated solutions, risk control framework and best market practices into one of the world’s fastest growing capital markets.”
She added: “With this license, we are well-positioned to help investors navigate and capitalise on the opportunities in China’s rapidly growing capital market.”
Jerry Zhang, CEO and executive vice-chairwoman of Standard Chartered China, commented: “This is a big step forward in the further opening up of China’s domestic financial markets and a testament to our commitment to supporting China’s financial reform and innovation.”
He added: “We belonged to the first batch of banks in China providing onshore B-share custodian services in 1992 and, since then, we have been actively involved in the opening up of China’s capital markets, providing one-stop custody services for Chinese financial institutions and making continuous contributions to the sustainable development of China’s economy.”
.jpg)