Citi says it has become the first major global custodian permitted to operate a domestic Chinese fund custody business. BNP Paribas, meanwhile, has been granted license to provide custody services for China’s Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) scheme.
“We are honored to be given this opportunity to support the further development of the Chinese asset management industry and to bring international best practice in securities services to China. We look forward to servicing global asset managers as they establish onshore China business and to work with domestic asset managers as they grow their businesses onshore and globally,” comments David Russell, Citi’s head of securities services for the Asia-Pacific region, in his employer’s press release.
Citi points out that the Chinese asset management industry is one of the world’s largest, with about $19 trillion of assets under management onshore.
BNP Paribas’ license to provide custody services under the QFI scheme is effective immediately. “This means BNP Paribas can now directly support foreign institutional investors across the full scope of schemes allowing access to China’s equities and bond markets, in addition to providing a full range of foreign exchange services,” the French bank writes in its press release.