November 21, 2016

ICBC Singapore Adopts Thomson Reuters Electronic Trading

Singapore – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) Singapore Branch has adopted Thomson Reuters FX e-commerce solution Electronic Trading to strengthen its presence in the foreign exchange market. ICBC is the first Chinese bank to adopt this next generation solution from Thomson Reuters.

Electronic Trading provides efficient market making capabilities and allows ICBC to price CNH and other G10 currencies across Asia with various branches, interbank clients and corporate clients, thus strengthening ICBC’s strength and presence in the foreign exchange market. The importance of major emerging market currencies is growing, especially due to Renminbi’s internationalization.

In today’s evolving FX markets, banks need flexible trading solutions that provide control over electronic pricing, distribution and hedging to meet the changing demands of their client base and improve efficiency. With Thomson Reuters Electronic Trading, banks across 60 countries globally benefit from a next-generation electronic FX trading platform. As part of the Thomson Reuters desktop trading platform, Electronic Trading offers a powerful suite of solutions to shape and automate FX prices.

ICBC in Singapore is the official CNH clearing bank and full-licensed bank that has a strong business footprint in treasury, asset management, corporate banking and trade finance in Asia-Pacific markets and globally. ICBC has also been being ranked as the world’s largest bank by asset value.

"As China's largest bank and the official CNH clearing bank of Singapore, ICBC Singapore is committed to offering a full range of integrated financial services in the CNH and other key currencies to our clients," said Mr Zhang Weiwu, General Manager of ICBC Singapore. "The electronic trading solution provided by Thomson Reuters meets our Treasury team's varied needs for strong infrastructure support."

“With 25% of global FX trade taking place in Asia, ICBC’s decision to deploy Thomson Reuters Electronic Trading solution fully enables the bank’s FX market making capacity to both interbank and corporate clients and also streamlines risk management. We have a number of Chinese banks using our existing FX e-commerce solutions, and ICBC is the first to take advantage of our next generation technology,” said Alfred Lee, Managing Director, ASEAN, Financial and Risk, Thomson Reuters.

“Considering the prominent theme of Renminbi internationalization, we look forward to collaborating with ICBC, a leading Chinese bank and market player, in the foreign exchange market. As a global independent source of trusted FX market insight and solutions, Thomson Reuters collaborates with multiple market participants to provide FX solutions that connect and empower the financial community in APAC and globally,” he added.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of news and information for professional markets. Our customers rely on us to deliver the intelligence, technology and expertise they need to find trusted answers. The business has operated in more than 100 countries for more than 100 years. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, visit www.thomsonreuters.com.

About ICBC Singapore

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Group is China’s largest bank and the world’s largest bank by total assets. Established in 1993, ICBC Singapore is ICBC Group’s first overseas branch and was awarded a Qualifying Full Bank License in October 2012. Subsequently, in February 2013, ICBC Singapore was appointed by the People’s Bank of China as the first overseas RMB Clearing Bank outside Greater China, and Singapore’s sole RMB Clearing Bank. In 2014, ICBC Singapore was the only financial institution to be named among the “Top 10 Enterprises Entering ASEAN” by China-ASEAN Business Council.

ICBC Singapore maintains a clear market lead through its continuous innovations in RMB products and services. Since launching its clearing service in May 2013, ICBC Singapore’s accumulated RMB clearing volume exceeded RMB 100 trillion as at Dec 2015. Leveraging its advantage as the sole authorised RMB Clearing Bank in Singapore, and its in-depth understanding of the Chinese market and domestic policies, ICBC Singapore has forged numerous industry firsts in RMB products and services, including:

  • 1st RMB Fixed Rate Remittance
  • 1st RMB/SGD UnionPay and 1st USD/SGD Visa Dual Currency Credit Card
  • 1st cross-border RMB banknotes delivery service
  • 1st in Singapore market to guide clients in making foreign direct investments in China with RMB
  • 1st cross-border RMB intercompany loan
  • 1st RMB syndicated loans to an international commodities trader
  • 1st RMB SGX FX Futures transaction and  1st RMB SGD RMB FX direct trading transaction
  • 1st China onshore RMB Bond Repo transaction
  • 1st Shanghai Free-Trade Zone (FTZ) Money Market transaction
  • 1st cross-border RMB cash swapping between Singapore and Shanghai FTZ
  • 1st cross-border RMB loans to Shanghai FTZ, Suzhou Industrial Park and Guangxi Financial Reform Pilot Zone respectively
  • 1st issuance of corporate Lion City bonds for both Chinese and Singapore companies
  • The biggest Lion City Bond issuance of RMB 4 billion to date, of which two of three tranches were dual-listed on the SGX and GTSM, a 1st in the market

CONTACT

Janet Jin
Thomson Reuters
Business Communications Executive, APAC
Tel: +852 2847 8052
Email: janet.jin@thomsonreuters.com

Lu Ting Ting
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Singapore Branch
Tel: +65 6709 1370
tingting.lu@sg.icbc.com.cn