ICBC admitted as a full member of London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) on December 16th. (Reuters Press Release) ICBC is the World's Largest Bank by market value. The bank will use the opportunity to position itself into a global precious metal investment and management bank, according to an e-mailed statement from the lender. Interesting timing for the ICBC...two weeks before China decided to clamp down on new gold exchanges.
London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), established in 1987, is the world's largest OTC market for spot gold, setting prices for spot gold traded around the world. In current global precious metal markets, the LBMA Good Delivery List is widely recognized as representing the de facto standard for the quality of gold bars. LBMA's membership means a reliable investment and management organization for precious metal. The membership plays a significant role for ICBC to gather pace in promoting precious metal services to customers around the world, said an executive with ICBC. The Bank is taking the opportunity to build itself into a world-class bank for precious metal investment and management in the international precious metal market.
In September, 2009, ICBC set up the Precious Metal Department - the first organization in China dedicated to precious metal business. Since then, ICBC embraces innovation on products and services to meet the needs of the customers. Nearly a hundred precious metal products have been launched under a product offering encompassing four large categories - physical metals, trading metals, precious metal financing and wealth management metals. ICBC is now a commercial bank in China offering the most complete range of precious metals. The Bank also leverages its global service network and cutting-edge technology to set up precious metal business centers outside China, silver products are now on sale in ICBC Macau and ICBC London. ICBC is taking steps to expand its precious metal business outside China.
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