I. Our Custody Business
The Custody Dept. was set up in August 2002, and in November of the same year, we got the Qualification for Securities Investment Fund Custodian (QSIFC) granted by the People's Bank of China and China Securities Regulatory Commission and became the first listed bank in China to get such a qualification. Currently, China Merchants Bank (Hereafter namely 'CMB') has obtained qualifications for both open-end fund distribution and custodian for securities investment fund, social security fund, QFII, trustee investment management, etc. Custody services now include securities investment fund, Trustee investment management, trust investment plan, etc. In recent two years, our custody operation has been rapidly growing with custodian assets up to RMB 46 billion by mid-April, 2005.
II. Top Rank Services
CMB always operates its businesses with the philosophy of "We are here for you". CMB uses its best practice to provide efficient, convenient, profound full-range services to the customers, and remains the leading position of quality services in domestic banking industry. Our Custody Dept. always strictly conducts its duty as a custodian to guarantee the security of custodian assets in accordance with laws, regulations and underlying agreements. The investment operation of those assets is put under close monitoring in order to achieve effective risk control, which has been highly appreciated and recognized by the industry. In the course of its operation, standard workflow is utilized and implemented to ensure the efficiency while maintaining "Error Free"record and standard to protect the interest of the customers, hence building up our image of top rank services.
III. Business Strengths
To enhance our service level of custodian business, the Bank applies its cutting edge technical strengths and integrates its internet banking platform and internal clearing system to form a core platform for custodian operation so as to meet high demand of real-time across region settlement for custodian transactions and effective management of custodian assets. Our niche features include:
1. High compatibility, suitable for various custodian operations. It can satisfy the custodian requirement of securities investment fund, trustee investment management, corporate annuity, social security fund, QFII, etc.
2. Efficiency and effectiveness, real time settlement realized. Based on our advanced service channel, we have already achieved real-time settlement across regions, and also provide real time on-line account inquiry service to the fund manager and the customers.
3. Nation-wide availability, with regional features. The operational platform enables the custodian accounts to be opened in all of our branches without any regional restriction. Wherever our customers and the investment managers are, they can enjoy our integrated but localized custody services.
Our philosophy is to adhere to the service standard of 'Honest, Reliable, Responsible, Diligent, Innovative and Forward Looking'. The Custody Department will continue to satisfy the various requirements of customers, and to provide secure, efficient, quality service to the investors and investment managers.