Ringing in an historic first

Bank subsidiary becomes NYSE's first member from China

A subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China formally celebrated being the first Chinese member of the New York Stock Exchange with an opening bell ceremony on Tuesday.

The Industrial and Commerce Bank of China Financial Services LLC (ICBCFS), a broker-dealer subsidiary under parent company ICBC, China's largest financial institution, became a member of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the end of 2013. On hand for ringing the opening bell was Bi Mingqiang, chairman of ICBC USA; Joseph Spillane, CEO of ICBCFS; and Sun Guoxiang, consulate general of China in New York.

"Becoming a member of NYSE Euronext will facilitate ICBC's opportunity in the US market, helping promote the brand as well as getting a deeper understanding of the US capital market," the bank said in a statement.

In 2010 ICBC acquired the Prime Dealer Services division of Fortis Securities LLC, which was previously controlled by French financial services company BNP Paribas SA, and eventually took on the ICBCFS name. Wanting to expand into the equity business, the ICBCFS now focuses on clearing and financing trades in the US.

"We work very closely with Mr Bi and the people from the branch so it's more a collaborative effort. We use the ICBC name and we want to work together to develop the business," Spillane told China Daily.

In the short-term, ICBC is looking to integrate the bank's three main businesses in the US - retail banking, wholesale banking and broker-dealer services - which will help serve ICBC's clients on a more "comprehensive basis," Bi told China Daily.

"ICBC's US operation is an extended arm of ICBC Group and we have a huge client base in Asia. But more and more, investors are coming over from the Asian market and especially from China, and they need very diversified services," he said. "Whatever our clients from China need, we can help them."

ICBC is also focusing on its local clients, many of which are handled by Spillane with ICBCFS. "Some of our clients, if they've got good research, if they've got good execution capabilities, they'd like to be able to export that to Asia. But it's very expensive and time-consuming, so we can operate as the bridge between here and Asia and introduce them to people," he said.

Despite the US economy's slow recovery, Bi said he is confident that the market will bounce back and will be a driver of the bank's US business.

"The market is already picking up and it's growing," he said. "Everything is coming back, so we are quite confident. That's the space for ICBC to grow its business here in the upcoming years, which is growing faster than our domestic operations in China I think."

The Chinese economy is going to keep growing, but while growth might not be over 8 or 9 percent, it "will still keep very acceptable and reasonable rate," he said.

ICBC, the largest bank in the world by deposits, has been expanding steadily across the globe and recently purchased a controlling stake of Standard Bank Group's London-based business for $765 million.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 02/12/2014 page2)