Financial reforms and financial restructuring have gained momentum in China, allowing commercial banks to carry out operations until recently prohibited, such as investing in fixed-income products in overseas financial markets or being facilitated to purchase foreign currency. In such exciting and revolutionary times, at least in banking terms, a Chinese bank also brought to the market the biggest initial public offering (IPO) the world had seen. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s (ICBC) dual IPO raised a phenomenal $16.1bn in Hong Kong and an additional $5.1bn in Shanghai, and was the first simultaneous listing on the two markets.
Thanks to a more open market, financial firms have partnered with China’s banks, aiming to use their extensive networks to sell their products in the world’s fastest growing major economy. It came as no surprise that American Express chose the country’s biggest bank as its partner to launch its first credit card in China, banking on ICBC’s 37% credit card market share.
ICBC is the leader in corporate banking, with more than 2.5 million corporate banking customers, and has gained a dominant position in private banking, serving 150 million customers. ICBC’s physical and online banking presence has been expanding too, and at the end of 2005 the outlets’ number reached 18,764, almost half of which are located in the top 50 cities in China.
The judges were impressed with ICBC’s good financial performance and continuing expansion in non-credit business segments such as cash management and asset custody.
