I. Business Overview
On February 24, 1998, ICBC became the first domestic custodian bank approved by the CSRC and the PBC. In recent years, ICBC has pressed ahead with custodian business innovation to improve its product system and business structure, maintaining an optimistic momentum of development, and a lead position in business scale. As at the end of 2023, ICBC’s assets under custody (including operation outsourcing business for asset management and excluding fund supervision business) reached RMB22 trillion, maintaining the largest market share for 25 consecutive years as well as the earliest, most diversified custodian bank with the largest share in the Mainland of China.
Adhering to the principle of “professionalism creates value, trust makes dreams come true”, ICBC, based on technology, innovation, professionalism, and talent support, has created a “comprehensive custody” service brand, providing customers with safe, convenient, and value-added custody services through full accompaniment, comprehensive service, and wholehearted protection. Currently, ICBC’s custody products include: Securities investment funds, insurance assets, bank wealth management products, pension assets, private asset management products, trust plans, QDII assets, and QFI assets. The custody services are embedded in the whole process of customer asset management. The Bank can provide customers with basic custody services such as asset custody, capital clearing, accounting, asset valuation, investment supervision, and information disclosure, as well as the relevant value-added custody services such as providing comprehensive financial information, bond default warning, investment manager analysis, OTC investment account opening and trading facilitation, performance evaluation, data mining and research support, or other customized value-added custody services. Meanwhile, the Bank can provide customers with outsourcing services such as asset valuation and accounting and registration of various asset management products.

II. Organizational Structure and Service Team
The Asset Custody Department consists of 13 divisions, namely Securities Investment Fund Division, Entrusted Asset Division I, Entrusted Asset Division II, Global Asset Custody Division, Social Security Fund Division and Business Outsourcing Center in front office, Operation Division I, Operation Division II, Operation Division III, Investment Supervision Division in middle office, and Risk Management Division, Comprehensive Management Division and Digital Promotion Division in back office. Currently, ICBC has established the “1+6+N” custody operation system, including the operation center of the Head Office, six Head Office-level operation centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhejiang and Chongqing, 32 other branches, and 38 domestic tier-one branches (branches directly managed by the Head Office), which are offering asset custody services and providing professional custody services for customers.
As at the end of 2023, there were more than 1,000 employees in the custody line of the Bank, with a total of 209 employees at the headquarters of the Asset Custody Department, over 95% of whom had bachelor’s degrees or higher and qualifications to deal in funds. All departmental managers and above have postgraduate degrees or higher, or senior technical titles.
ICBC has rich experience in custody industry, with key management personnel having over 20 years of financial industry experience. With its rich custody experience and professional service team, ICBC is the leader of a number of professional and technical groups as well as the developer of industry norms:
The first chief member of Custodian Services Committee, China Banking Association;
Director of Asset Management Association of China;
Joint Head of the Custody and Operation Committee of Asset Management Association of China;
Deputy Director Member of the Custody and Operation Committee of Insurance Asset Management Association of China;
Leader of the Fund Valuation Team of Asset Management Association of China;
Leader of Money Market Fund Shadow Pricing Team;
Product valuation expert in Interbank Market Clearing House Co., Ltd.;
Member of Electronic Fund Disclosure Standards Team;
Member of Working Team on Investment Performance Standards for the Fund Industry;
Leader of the Custodian Specialized Team of the Investment Management Committee of the China Social Insurance Fund.

III. Advantages
i. The first custodian bank in China with industry experience
In February 1998, ICBC became the first bank to obtain custodian qualifications for securities investment fund in the Chinese Mainland upon approval of the CSRC and PBC. In March 1998, ICBC provided custody services for Kaiyuan Fund and Jintai Fund. It became the first custodian bank in China with a long history and rich business experience.
ii. Best custodian bank in China with great fame
ICBC has always been committed to the brand building of custodian services. The brand influence and market reputation of “ICBC Custody Service” are improving gradually. Since 2004, ICBC has won a total of 102 awards such as the “custodian bank for the year” from authoritative financial media from home and abroad, being the most awarded custodian bank from China.
iii. The largest asset custodian bank in China with market advantages
As at the end of 2023, the assets under ICBC’s custody (including operation outsourcing business for asset management and excluding fund supervision business) reached RMB22 trillion, further consolidating its absolute leading position in the market. Specifically, the custody scale of securities investment funds, insurance assets, pension and other products remained the top among its peers, with the global custody scale of the Group exceeding RMB1.5 trillion. Thanks to the development for 25 years, ICBC has established the most comprehensive custodian product system in China, including 14 major categories and 33 sub-categories of basic custodian products, which can fully cover the large asset management market.
iv. A powerful custodian technology information system with technological advantages
ICBC is the only custodian bank in Chinese mainland that constantly adheres to independent R&D of custody business systems and has always attached great importance to the input of information technology into the custody business. In recent years, the science and technology R&D investment in the custody business line has been increasing at a rate of about 10% every year. From the start of the custody business in 1998 to 2019, ICBC successively conducted R&D of six generations of integrated custody business systems that are advanced domestically, which greatly underpins the development of the custody business and secures its leading position in custody system building across the industry. The Bank began to build a smart custody system in 2019 and officially released it in March 2021, which embarked on a 2.0 era for custody system building in the domestic asset management industry and promoted comprehensive improvements in ICBC’s comprehensive custodian service capability with technology. The smart custody system consists of five platforms at three layers: The first layer includes the smart operation platform and the smart data platform, at which back-office and middle-office resources are reconstructed with the goal of “operating whole-procedure and all-information graphs”; the second layer includes the smart management platform and the smart investment service platform, at which all-out efforts are made to develop digital and open custodian services with the goal of “whole product cycle and full investment perspectives”; the third layer is the smart customer service platform, at which the Bank aims to create a super institutional portal for the asset management industry targeting “serving all channels”. The Bank has continued to strengthen the building of its custodian system and the application of new technologies, to create a new custodian digital ecosystem of “+ custody” internally and “custody +” externally through the full implementation of its digital transformation strategy.
v. The strict risk prevention system for assets under custody with the advantage of risk control
ICBC has established a comprehensive risk management system for custody services, incorporating risk prevention and control on such services into the Bank’s risk management system. It has applied comprehensive risk management tools to control risks in custody services, established three lines of defense for risk control, and formed a risk control mechanism of organization, guidance, coordination and supervision between the supervisory departments, the internal control departments and the risk management departments of the Head Office and the internal independent risk control institutions within the custody departments. ICBC has formulated and continuously improved its contingency plan, organized emergency drills throughout the Bank, and established the emergency response mode of “working from home + off-site operation” to ensure the continuity and stability of custody business under extreme circumstances.
vi. Full-covered investment service system with value-added services
Focusing further on “serving customers and empowering employees”, ICBC has built a value-added custodian service system covering six categories from the dimensions of customer group, role and service to provide services for customers, the Group and the regulator, including information matchmaking, performance analysis, transaction facilitation, value-added operation, collaborative services and monitoring reporting. Information matchmaking refer to providing customers with information sharing and matchmaking on the funds and program end through the integration of relevant financial information, including macro, market, industry and product information, to ensure the effective connection between supply and demand sides; performance analysis refers to providing customers with risk-return analysis, attribution analysis, major assets analysis, investment manager analysis as well as bond default warning; transaction facilitation targets OTC investment scenarios, focusing on customers’ account opening, transactions and other relevant business, to enhance the efficiency of OTC investment through the integration of information and procedures and direct system connection. Value-added operation, collaborative services and monitoring reporting help to continuously strengthen the application of new technologies such as instant BI, RPA, OCR, cloud platform, and utilize the Group’s synergies to constantly improve the quality and efficiency of operation and enrich the data analysis and application scenarios.
vii. The first bank to start cross-border custody business in China, with a well-established global custody network and leading global services
ICBC is the first commercial bank to start cross-border custody business in China, providing full range of cross-border custody services and products for more than 200 cross-border investors, including QFI, QDII, CIBM direct investment, GDR, QFLP, QDLP, ESCROW, etc., and it is the domestic custodian with the most complete range and the largest number of customers. Through multiple overseas branches, such as Hong Kong Branch, Singapore Branch, ICBC (Argentina) and ICBC (Macau), ICBC offers global custody services, while cooperating with leading global custody banks to establish a stable and mature global custody network that combines overseas branches of the Group with global custody banks, providing cross-border custody services with “one point access and global response” for many domestic and foreign customers. Meanwhile, ICBC has continued to lead market innovation by launching the first CDR transaction in China, the first custody business for GDR underlying securities, and the custody of the first batch of “China-Japan ETF Connectivity”, “Shenzhen-Hong Kong ETF Connect” and “Southbound Bond Connect” products, providing secure, efficient and convenient global custody services for global investors.
viii. The leader of a number of professional technical group and industry specification maker with professional advantage
Custody services are available at all of 38 tier-one (directly managed) branches in China, and custody teams in China and overseas currently have over 1,000 professional employees. The custody team of ICBC can provide professional services and serves as the Chief Member of Custodian Services Committee of China Banking Association, the Director of the China Securities Investment Fund Association and the Joint Head of the Custody and Operation Committee, and is deeply involved in the formulation of codes of practice. In 2021, ICBC gradually improved the bank-wide training system with online and offline training, integrating market dynamics with specific business, so as to form an overall training program, develop intra-bank training procedures, and continuously build a professional team for custody services.
ix. The earliest institution to start outsourcing business in China, with advantages in outsourcing services
ICBC is the earliest institution to start outsourcing business in China. In September 2012, the Bank set up a special team to provide fund outsourcing services, the first to pass the on-site inspection of mutual fund outsourcing by CSRC, and the first to obtain the private fund outsourcing license issued by the Fund Association. The two core systems of asset valuation and accounting and registration on which ICBC’s outsourcing service is based are all independently developed, so that the security of the system and the speed of response to customers’ demands can be guaranteed.

IV. Development History
◆ 1998
In February, ICBC became the first one in China to obtain the qualification for securities investment fund custody business;
In March, the Bank provided custody services for the first close-ended securities investment funds in China-Kaiyuan Fund and Jintai Fund;
In March, the Bank was the first in China to put into production the first-generation fund custody valuation and accounting system;
In March, two custody divisions were established in Shenzhen and Shanghai.

◆ 2001
In September, ICBC provided custody services for the first open-ended securities investment funds in China-China Southern Stable Growth Fund;
In September, the first second-generation custody business system supporting the operation of open-end fund custody business was put into operation in China;
In December, ICBC was qualified to provide custody services for social security funds, enterprise annuities and entrusted assets.

◆ 2002
In September, ICBC provided custody services for the first bond fund in China-China Southern Baoyuan Bond Fund;
In November, the Bank obtained the qualification for asset custody business, including trust asset, basic pension insurance fund (personal account), rural social security fund, investment connection insurance product and receipt and payment account funds;
In November, the Bank provided custody services for the first open-ended index fund in China-HuaAn-SSE 180 Enhanced Index Fund;
In November, the Bank obtain the qualification of providing custody services for domestic securities investment fund for the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII).

◆ 2003
In June, ICBC provided custody services for the first principal-guaranteed fund in China-China Southern Principal Guaranteed & Value-added Fund;
In August, the Bank was qualified to provide custody services for industrial funds;
In October, the Bank put into practice the first set of third-generation fund accounting and valuation system supporting the centralized clearing mode in China, making the centralized processing of custody business data and the Group’s account fund clearing mode possible;
In December, the Bank provided custody services for the first money market fund in China-HuaAn Fuli Cash Fund.

◆ 2004
In October, ICBC provided custody services for the first listed open-ended fund (LOF) in China-China Southern Active Allocation Fund;
In December, the Bank provided custody services for the first exchange traded fund (ETF) in China-China Asset Management SSE 50 ETF.

◆ 2005
In January, ICBC provided custody services for the first insurance fund entering the securities market directly in China-Huatai Insurance Fund;
In February, the Bank became the first one in China to be approved by the CIRC to provide custody services for stock investment by insurance companies;
In March, the Bank was the first in China to introduce the SAS70, international audit standards for internal control audit, and successfully obtained a SAS70 report with unqualified audit opinions after a nine-month review;
In August, the Bank was approved by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security for the qualification of providing custody services for enterprise annuity fund.

◆ 2006
In June, ICBC provided custody service for the first enterprise annuity fund entering the market according to standards in China;
In July, the Bank provided custody services for the first replicate fund in China-China Southern Stable Growth Fund II;
In September, ICBC provided custody services for the first banking QDII product-BOC USD Enhanced Cash Management;
In October, the Bank launched the Internet banking customer service system for custody business, extending custody services to clients through the Internet;
In November, ICBC provided custody services for the first fund company QDII product in China-HuaAn International Allocation Fund.

◆ 2007
In July, ICBC provided custody services for the first innovative close-ended fund in China-UBS SDIC Classified Equity Fund;
In July, the Bank signed a trusteeship agreement with the National Council for Social Security Funds to provide custody services for the national social security fund;
In July, the fourth-generation custody business core system, designed and developed by ICBC independently and with full independent intellectual property rights, was put into operation - the first domestic multi-currency and multi-accounting standard custody business accounting management system;
In September, ICBC provided custody services for the first fund company stock QDII product in China-Southern Global Selected Allocation Fund;
In October, an asset custody transaction supervision system independently designed and developed by ICBC, with full independent intellectual property rights, was put into operation;
In December, the first remote disaster recovery drill in the custody industry was carried out, and all critical operations were restored within two hours, with the expected results achieved.

◆ 2008
In March, ICBC provided custody services for the first specific customer asset management program of a fund company;
In March, the Bank provided custody services for the first public welfare fund in China.

◆ 2009
In February, the custody business system for Anxin Account was put into operation within ICBC;
In March, the Bank provided custody services for the first special QDII products in China;
In July, the direct data processing system between the custodian bank and the management company was put into operation;
In July, five custody business divisions in Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Zhejiang were granted licenses;
In August, ICBC provided custody services for the first specific multiple-customer asset management programs of fund company;
In December, the Bank provided custody service for the first ESCROW product in China.

◆ 2010
In July, ICBC provided custody services for the first cultural industry fund in China-China Media Capital Fund;
In August, it provided custody services for the first investable stock index fund in China-China Securities Index-China Southern Well-off Industry Index ETF Linked Fund.

◆ 2011
In January, ICBC provided custody services for the first gold fund in China-Lion Global Gold Securities Investment Fund;
In May, the Bank provided custody services for the first bond index fund in China-China Southern-CSI 50 Bond Index Fund;
In July, the fifth-generation custody business core system, the first in China to adopt a standardized procedure processing approach, was put into operation;
In July, Asset Custody Investment Performance Evaluation System (CIPS) independently designed and developed by ICBC, with full independent intellectual property rights, was put into operation.

◆ 2012
In March, ICBC became a pilot bank for QFLP custody business in Beijing and provided custody services for multiple QFLP products, making it the first custodian bank for QFLP equity investment fund in Beijing and even across China, and the custodian bank with the most QFLP products in Beijing;
In April, the electronic fax project for custody business was put into operation;
In May, it provided custody services for the first cross-market ETF in China-Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF;
In May, ICBC provided custody services for the first wealth management bond fund in China-China Universal Wealth Management 30-day Bond Fund;
In June, ICBC (Asia) officially established its Asset Custody Department;
In August, it provided custody services for the first seed fund in China-Tian Hong Bond Seed Fund;
In September, the Bank set up a business outsourcing center, making it the first one in China to establish an outsourcing business team;
In October, New York Branch began providing custody services for QDII products in the US market;
In November, it provided custody services for the first classified assembled securities company program in China-Guotai Junan Jundefeng Bond Classified Assembled Asset Management Program I;
In November, the comprehensive fund custody service system for corporate customers was put into operation throughout ICBC;
In November, the first fund outsourcing business system, independently designed and developed by ICBC, with full independent intellectual property rights, was put into operation;
In December, ICBC provided custody services for the first listed money market fund in China-China Universal Income Express Money Market Fund;
In December, ICBC provided custody services for the first domestic insurance fund to invest in real estate projects.

◆ 2013
In April, ICBC provided custody services for the first securities investment asset management program of futures company in China-Huatai Great Wall Futures “Monthly Increase” Valuation Arbitrage Asset Management Program I;
In April, ICBC (Macau) officially established its Asset Custody Department;
In May, ICBC provided custody services for the first pension product for enterprise annuity in China-Yangtze Power Pension Yingda Power Trust Pension Product;
In June, the Bank reported its fund outsourcing business to the CBRC and the CSRC;
In July, the Bank provided custody services for the first gold ETF in China-Guotai Gold ETF;
In August, the Bank became the first one in China to launch note asset custody business and provide custody service for the first note asset;
In September, the Bank signed a contract to carry out a pilot project for outsourcing accounting and valuation for special customers;
In December, the Bank signed a contract to carry out a pilot outsourcing service for calculation of TA performance compensation.

◆ 2014
In June, ICBC provided custody services for the first securities broker mutual fund product in China-Orient Securities Industrial Upgrading Fund;
In August, it provided the first direct pension investment outsourcing business in the entire market; 
In September, it provided custody services for the first mixed ownership reform fund in China-Harvest Yuanhe Fund;
In November, ICBC provided custody services for the first stock pension product in China-ICBC Credit Suisse Tian’an Stock Pension Product, and for the first preferred stock pension product in China-Ping An Juxin Preferred Stock Pension Product;
In December, the Bank provided custody services for the first mutual fund product in China to invest in the Hong Kong market through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect-China Southern Hang Seng ETF.

◆ 2015
In January, a bank-fund cooperation seminar was held;
In August, ICBC launched a pilot project for value-added custody services, offering MOM custody value-added services, and the Asset Custody Platform for Information Service (CPIC) in Phase I was successfully put into operation;
In December, 8 custody divisions were established in Henan, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui, and Hainan.

◆ 2016
In May, ICBC won the Best Custodian Bank by The Asian Banker;
In October, it was appointed as the sub custodian of the Chinese market by KSD (Kennewick School District), becoming the only Chinese-funded sub custodian bank of the institution in China;
In November, the Bank was qualified to provide custody services for basic pension insurance fund;
In October, Moscow Branch was authorized to start custody business locally;
In December, four custody divisions were established in Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Ningbo, and Suzhou.

◆ 2017
In August, the first sixth-generation custody business core system based on distributed architecture was put into operation in China;
In August, ICBC undertook outsourcing services for the whole foreign owned enterprise private fund management (WFOE); 
In September, it provided custody services for the first FOFs in China-China Southern All-Weather FOF;
In November, it won the first tender of standardized custody business for the collection account of national occupational annuity fund;
In December, it was appointed as the only Chinese-funded custodian bank by the IMF to provide QFII custody business in the Chinese market.

◆ 2018
In April, the 20th anniversary summit of ICBC Custody Service was successfully held, with assets under custody exceeding RMB16 trillion;
In July, ICBC provided custody services for three pilot strategic allotment funds under China Southern, China Asset Management, and China Universal Fund;
In July, the Bank provided outsourcing services for qualified domestic limited partner (QDLP);
In August, the Bank provided outsourcing services for net-asset-value banking wealth management products;
In August, the Bank won the bid as the custodian of the first-tier occupational annuity plan for the central unit;
In December, the application for qualification for providing custody services for CDR under the Shanghai-London Stock Connect was approved by the CBIRC;
In December, the first domestic depository business management system, independently designed and developed by ICBC, with full independent intellectual property rights, was put into operation.

◆ 2019
In January, ICBC became one of the first banks to obtain deposit qualification under the Shanghai-London Stock Connect;
In March, the “Orient Securities Assembled Asset Management Plan VII” managed by ICBC became the first product in the market to complete the transformation of mutual fund management for securities brokers;
In June, the number of mutual funds under custody exceeded 1,000, and the Bank became the only custodian bank in the market with a scale of non-monetary fund of over RMB1 trillion;
In June, as the first domestic GDR, Huatai Securities, was successfully launched on the London Stock Exchange, ICBC became the first commercial bank in the market to provide underlying securities custody services for Shanghai-London Stock Connect;
In September, outsourcing services for net-asset-value banking products have been provided by ICBC Wealth Management Co., Ltd;
In October, the smart operation platform of the five major platforms for the smart custodian bank was launched, including the new generation of asset custody transaction supervision system;
In December, the smart data platform, one of the five major platforms for the smart custodian bank, was launched;
In December, ICBC obtained the qualification for occupational annuity custody in 26 provinces and cities;
In December, the scale of outsourcing business reached RMB710.1 billion, a six-fold increase from the beginning of the year, making ICBC the top bank in the banking sector.

◆ 2020
In April, the scale of outsourcing business exceeded RMB1 trillion, making ICBC the first commercial bank in China to exceed RMB1 trillion in operation outsourcing business for asset management products;
In May, the assets of occupational annuity funds under custody exceeded RMB100 billion for the first time;
In August, the asset custody business (including outsourcing) reached RMB19.1 trillion;
In September, the Bank provided custody services for the first STAR ETFs in China-E Fund-SSE 50 STAR ETF;
In October, the Bank became the first in China to provide CDR custody services to the issuer, Segway-Ninebot, listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board through depositary receipts;
In November, the smart customer service platform of the five major platforms for the smart custodian bank was launched, optimizing the functions of custody online banking, and adding mobile channel for custody;
In December, mutual fund assets under custody surpassed RMB3 trillion.

◆ 2021
In March, assets under custody surpassed RMB20 trillion;
In May, the smart management platform, one of the five major platforms for the smart custodian bank, was launched;
In June, the smart investment service platform, one of the five major platforms for the smart custodian bank, was launched;
In June, ICBC provided custody services for the first publicly offered real estate investment trusts (REITs) in China-Ping An Guangzhou Communications Investment Guanghe Expressway REITs, and for the first science and technology innovation board 50 ETFs in China-E Fund-CSI Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 ETF and Hwabao Securities-CSI Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 ETF;
In August, mutual fund assets under custody surpassed RMB3.5 trillion;
In August, the Bank provided custody services for the first publicly offered MOM funds in China-China Merchants-Huirun One-year Fixed Open Hybrid Initiating MOM;
In September, ICBC became one of the first batch of pilot custody and clearing banks for the “Southbound Bond Connect”, and provided cross-border custody services for more than ten domestic investors in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong;
In October, the Bank provided custody services for the first MSCI China A50 connect ETFs in China-E Fund-MSCI China A50 Connect ETF;
In November, the Bank provided custody services for two of China’s first batch of Beijing Stock Exchange theme funds, namely China Universal and E Fund;
In December, it provided custody services for the first enhanced index ETFs in China-Invesco Great Wall-CSI 500 Enhanced Index ETF.

◆ 2022
In March, ICBC provided custody services for the first Shanghai Gold ETFs in China-China Southern Shanghai Gold ETF;
In June, the “comprehensive custody” service brand was officially launched;
In June, it provided custody services for the first interbank certificate of deposit funds in China-China Universal-CSI Interbank Certificate of Deposit AAA Index Seven-day Fund and Huatai-PineBridge Investments-CSI Interbank Certificate of Deposit AAA Index Seven-day Fund;
In July, it provided custody services for the first CSI 1000 broad-based index ETFs in China-GF Securities-CSI 1000 ETF;
In July, it provided custody services for the first carbon neutrality ETFs in China-E Fund-CSI Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange Carbon Neutrality ETF.

◆ 2023
In March, ICBC provided custody services for the first batch of bond funds in China to adopt the “hybrid valuation method” – E Fund Henggu 18-month Closed-end Bond Securities Investment Fund;
In March, it received GDR custody appointment from LONGi;
In May, it provided custody services for the first batch of CSI Guoxin State-owned Enterprise Theme Index Funds in China – China Southern-CSI Guoxin State-owned Enterprise Technology Leading ETF, GF-CSI Guoxin State-owned Enterprise Shareholder Return ETF;
In July, the custody scale of enterprise annuity funds exceeded RMB1 trillion;
In September, it provided custody services for the first batch of STAR 100 ETFs in China - Bosera SSE STAR 100 ETF and Yinhua SSE STAR 100 ETF, and for the first batch of CSI 2000 ETFs - China Southern-CSI 2000 ETF;
In November, it provided custody services for the first batch of appropriate profit concession funds – China Southern Forward-looking and Win-Win Three-year Fixed-term Open-ended Hybrid Securities Investment Fund;
In November, the custody scale of insurance assets exceeded RMB7 trillion.

V. Honors and Achievements
ICBC has always been committed to the brand building of custodian services. The brand influence and market reputation of “ICBC Custody Service” are improving gradually. Since March 2004 when ICBC was first exclusively selected by Asiamoney as the Best Custodian Bank in China, ICBC’s asset custody services have been highly recognized by a wide range of customers at home and abroad and consistently praised by authoritative financial media. Since 2005, ICBC has won a total of 102 awards such as the “custodian bank for the year” granted by domestic and overseas authoritative financial media including the Global Custodian in the UK, the Global Finance in the US, the Asian Banker in Singapore, The Asset in Hong Kong, as well as the Securities Times, the Banker and the China Fund News in the Chinese mainland, making it the domestic custodian bank with the most awards.