History

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (“ICBC (Asia)” or the “Bank”) is a licensed bank incorporated in Hong Kong. It is the flagship of overseas business of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (“ICBC”) – currently the largest commercial bank in China, and it is one of the domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) in Hong Kong. It is engaged in commercial banking, investment banking and other financial services, including those of securities, insurance and funds, with a focus on commercial and retail banking as well as global market business.

ICBC (Asia), formerly known as Union Bank of Hong Kong Limited, was established in Hong Kong in 1964 and publicly listed in 1973. Over the years, the Bank offered advanced and diversified banking services to its customers. The Bank changed its name to “Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited” on 21 August 2000 following its becoming a member of ICBC Group.

In July 2001, ICBC injected the corporate banking business of its Hong Kong Branch into ICBC (Asia). It expanded the customer base of ICBC (Asia), improved its deposits and loans portfolio and also diversified its product mix. Such transfer of business therefore led to a substantial enhancement of the competitive edge of ICBC (Asia).

ICBC (Asia) acquired Fortis Bank Asia HK’s retail and commercial banking operations on 30 April 2004. Fortis Bank Asia HK was then renamed to Belgian Bank and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICBC (Asia). In October 2005, Belgian Bank, Hong Kong Branch was formally merged with ICBC (Asia). In 2005, ICBC (Asia) acquired Chinese Mercantile Bank which becomes its wholly-owned subsidiary and focuses on Renminbi banking business in Mainland China.

On 31 August 2008, ICBC (Asia) completed the acquisition of Worldsec Asset Management Limited and renamed it to ICBC (Asia) Investment Management Company Limited (officially changed the name to ICBC Asset Management (Global) Company Limited in October 2017). Being a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICBC (Asia), ICBC Asset Management (Global) Company Limited specialized in ICBC’s global asset management business.

On 21 December 2010, ICBC completed its privatisation process of ICBC (Asia), which was henceforth withdrawn from listing on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICBC. The completion of privatisation thus provides ICBC (Asia) with broader access to finance, allows greater flexibility in obtaining the support of ICBC and achieving more effective business connection and integration within ICBC Group.

Upon the completion of the privatisation process, ICBC (Asia) accelerates its pace of development. Benefited from its continuous enhancing profitability, innovation, risk management and control effectiveness and other driven forces, ICBC (Asia) achieves a good momentum of steady growth in the client base and business development, resulting in continued expanding of its total asset size and optimization of its asset structure.

By persisting in the business strategy of “Taking root in Hong Kong, Connecting with mainland China, Spanning across Asia Pacific, Facing the World”, ICBC (Asia) seizes the favourable opportunities of Hong Kong being the offshore Renminbi centre and keenly explores Renminbi businesses and cross-border banking services. ICBC (Asia) realized a number of pioneering projects in offshore Renminbi financial products, and received various awards regarding quality cross-border services, such as “Best Bank in Hong Kong (Chinese Financial Institutions)”, “Excellent Brand of Cross-border Banking Services”, and “Excellent Foreign Institutional Investor”, etc.