OREANDA-NEWS. July 05, 2013. Earlier, Global Finance, an internationally respected American financial publication, and the Hong Kong magazine The Asset released their 2012 ranking of the Best Custodian Bank in China. For the seventh year in succession, ICBC has been named "Best Sub-Custodian Bank in China" by Global Finance, and the "Best Custodian Bank in China of the Year" by The Assets.

Both Global Finance and The Asset are influential financial magazines in the world. With third-party experts and experienced financial practitioners, the two magazines select winners providing the best custody services every year. Banks around the world compete for the prestigious awards. Candidates are measured by the performances in the previous twelve months including customer relations, quality of service, competitive pricing, emergency handling, business continuity plans, technology platforms, network structure, risk control and advantages in localization, etc.

ICBC is the No.1 custodian bank in China for fifteenth consecutive years since it launched the service in 1998. With RMB 4.11 trillion in net assets under custody as of the end of first quarter this year, ICBC has the biggest market share in China with the largest variety of asset custody products. In recent years, ICBC sees rapid growth in custodian services by expanding and developing a full spectrum of products covering banking, securities, insurance and industrial sectors with target customers at institutional investors at home and abroad. Meanwhile, in an effort to keep stable growth, ICBC focuses on the emerging custodian services such as asset management plan for brokers and equity investment funds. ICBC is also the first bank in China to offer customized value-added custodian services, including performance evaluation, risk management, etc.

ICBC's custodian service network is extending from Head Office to all branches nationwide, from local custody to global custody while maintaining rapid and balanced growth of the business. A domestic network for custodian services is currently in place in all tier-1/direct branches with license to open custodian services. With a broad global vision, ICBC spares no efforts to build a global network with custodian services available in ICBC Asia, ICBC London, Seoul Branch and other overseas institutions. ICBC also establishes close ties with many well-known global custodian banks to set up its custody service network worldwide, and steadfastly moves forward its global custodian services with special focus on QFII and QDII. By the end of the first quarter this year, ICBC has the largest number of QFII customers using custodian services in China and is consolidating its leading position in terms of QDII custodian services.