Standard Chartered granted landmark Chinese fund custody license

Regulators grant Standard Chartered domestic fund custody license to provide services to investment products offered by domestic funds and asset managers in China. 

By Jonathan Watkins

Standard Chartered Bank has become the first foreign bank to be granted a domestic fund custody license by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

With the 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.  

The move also represents another significant move from China to open up its markets to the world following landmarks move to open up its bond and equities markets along with the inclusion of its A-Shares in the MSCI emerging markets Index. 

Standard Chartered has been one of a handful of banks at the forefront of all these initiatives.

“With this license, we are well-positioned to help investors navigate and capitalise on the opportunities in China’s rapidly growing capital market,” said Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head, securities services, transaction banking, Standard Chartered.

The announcement comes in line with Standard Chartered celebrating 160 years of operating in China. 

Standard Chartered was among the first batch of foreign banks to be locally incorporated in China, the third largest equity and bond market in the world, in 2007.

“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,” said Jerry Zhang, chief executive officer and executive vice-chairwoman of Standard Chartered China.

“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.”

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