Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) reinforced its position during 2025 as a leading Chinese-funded custodian bank in Hong Kong through a combination of scale, innovation, cross-border expertise and strategic infrastructure development.
Notably, the bank delivered exceptional growth while continuing to expand its role as a critical bridge between Mainland China and global capital markets.
BOCHK’s custody platform achieved a major milestone during the year, with assets under custody rising 34% year-on-year to approximately HK$2.5 trillion ($319 billion). The business now serves more than 1,400 portfolios, while its client base expanded by 7% over the period. Growth was particularly strong across cross-border investment channels, with southbound clients increasing 76%, northbound clients rising 9%, and QDI business growing 11% – reflecting the bank’s ability to capture increasing demand for international investment access.
A key differentiator is BOCHK’s unrivalled position within the Bank of China Group’s global network. Combining proprietary custody infrastructure with an extensive partner network, the bank provides investment servicing across more than 100 markets and offers seamless access to major cross-border investment channels, including QFI, Bond Connect and Stock Connect. Its direct connectivity to Hong Kong’s core market infrastructure enables efficient settlement, clearing and asset servicing while providing clients with confidence in asset safety and operational resilience.
Innovation was a defining feature of the bank’s achievements in 2025. One of the year’s most significant milestones was BOCHK’s appointment by Euroclear and Clearstream as a common depository, safekeeper and service provider for Eurobonds. Following a rigorous approval process, BOCHK became one of the few Asian institutions entrusted with supporting the international Eurobond issuance framework, in turn strengthening Hong Kong’s position as a global capital markets hub and enhancing connectivity between Asia Pacific issuers and global investors.
BOCHK also demonstrated its ability to pioneer new market structures. The bank successfully facilitated the world’s first Shanghai Free Trade Zone offshore bond issuance, a RMB500 million ($74 million) transaction that adopted international issuance, custody and settlement standards while enabling offshore investors to participate with minimal operational and compliance barriers.
This landmark transaction broadened cross-border financing channels, strengthened the internationalisation of the renminbi (RMB) and reinforced Hong Kong’s role as a leading offshore RMB centre.
Beyond market infrastructure, BOCHK continued to enhance client servicing through innovation. The launch of its integrated physical gold ETF solution created a true end-to-end service model covering trading, vaulting, custody, fund administration and transfer agency services. Meanwhile, its middle-office trade matching platform introduced automated straight-through processing capabilities that reduce settlement failures, improve transparency and enhance operational efficiency for institutional investors.
The bank’s growing market influence was reflected in a series of significant mandates, including appointments from leading pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies.
At the same time, its corporate trust and agency services business recorded 41% year-on-year growth. The addition of more than 15 international fund management brands to its platform further underscores its growing global relevance.
Taken together, BOCHK’s combination of scale, financial strength, innovation, cross-border connectivity and market leadership have enabled it to stand out in the Hong Kong market for custody services, as well as become one of the most important asset servicing franchises in Asia.
"We’re honoured to receive this award. Amidst a fast-changing market environment, we continue to enhance our custody service capabilities and are dedicated to creating more value for our business partners by leveraging our distinctive advantages to offer reliable and efficient solutions," said Andrew Law, General Manager, Custody and Trust Services.
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