ICBC Europe and ICBC Credit Suisse Celebrate Authorization of S&P China 500 Index Fund

- LUXEMBOURG and HONG KONG, Dec. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Europe) S.A. ("ICBC (Europe)") today announced the authorization of ICBC Credit Suisse S&P China 500 Index Fund ("the Fund") under the ICBC (Europe) UCITS SICAV umbrella, by the Luxembourg regulator Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier ("CSSF"). This marks the first UCITS product to access China via Luxembourg Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor ("RQFII") quota, shortly after ICBC (Europe) obtained its RQFII license in November and Luxembourg RQFII quota in December. ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management International ("ICBCCS International") will be manager of the Fund. Compared to other China indices, the S&P China 500 Index features enhanced sector diversification. It comprises 500 of the largest, most liquid Chinese companies while approximating the sector composition of the broader equity market. All Chinese share classes including A-shares and offshore listings in Hong Kong and the US are eligible for inclusion. "At ICBC we are committed to providing first-class China and RMB solutions to our clients," said CHEN Fei, Chairman of ICBC (Europe). "We are excited to work with ICBC Credit Suisse and S&P on this pioneering project, and are delighted to extend availability of this important tool to global investors." "The S&P China 500 Index is designed to capture the 'Total China' story in a more complete, diversified and efficient approach," said Richard Tang, CEO of ICBCCS International. "The fund provides very unique China access for investors, and is the first of our UCITS range of China solutions." "We are pleased to serve as the index provider for this initiative by providing the S&P China 500 Index as the underlying of ICBC (Europe) and ICBCCS International's new index fund," said Michael Orzano, Director of Global Equity Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "We look forward to working closely with them to facilitate international investors' access to the Chinese equity market." The fund is the first to use S&P China 500 index as benchmark. It will be first registered in Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and is available in different share classes including RMB, USD, EUR, GBP and CHF. About ICBC (Europe) As the regional hub of ICBC Group in Continental Europe, ICBC (Europe) is the major player of cross-border RMB business across the European markets. The Bank provides a variety of RMB products and services, and was awarded the "best bank in Luxembourg" by Euromoney in July 2014. About ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management (ICBCCS) is the asset management joint venture between the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Credit Suisse established in 2005. It is the leading China manager serving over 12 million institutional and retail clients, with RMB800 billion in assets under management as of end of November 2015. ICBC (Europe) [email protected] / [email protected] ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management (International) Co. [email protected]