BNP Paribas Receives QFI Custodian Licence from China

​BNP Paribas, the European Union's leading bank and key player in international banking, has been licensed to provide custody services for China’s Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) scheme.

The QFI scheme is the result of a merger of the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) and RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) programmes, which took effect on 1 November 2020.

QFI scheme is one of the main channels used by foreign investors to buy Chinese stocks and bonds. The licence will allow BNP Paribas to work directly with foreign institutional investors to facilitate their access to China’s equities and bond markets and provide foreign exchange services.

“These changes will help to attract even more foreign investment into China, which is fast becoming amongst the most important markets globally,”said C G Lai, chief executive at BNP Paribas China Limited.

“As constraints on foreign participation in China’s markets abate, we expect a wave of renewed interest from offshore institutional investors,” said Philippe Kerdoncuff, Head of BNP Paribas Securities Services, China.“The licence also closely follows the removal of quotas and expansion of scope for investments under the QFI scheme, making this an exciting time for new entrants to the onshore custody space.”