OREANDA-NEWS. December 01, 2014. Citi has been appointed as a custodian bank by Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Limited (“Aberdeen”), with Citi Markets and Securities Services winning the mandate to provide custody services for Aberdeen’s Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) investments.

Citi will provide Aberdeen with an array of custody services including asset safekeeping, trade transaction processing, income collection, corporate actions and regulatory reporting. Citi has been the custodian in China to Aberdeen’s QFII investments since 2010.

“We are pleased that Aberdeen has furthered Citi’s mandate as custodian for its China-related investments. As an experienced provider, we pride ourselves on our integrated and operationally-efficient solution which supports offshore investors in accessing China’s potential. We are happy to support Aberdeen in this business development,” said Jervis Smith, Regional Head of Sales, Asia Pacific, Investor Services, Citi.

“With the ongoing rise of China’s economic significance globally, we anticipate further growth in investment allocations in China from institutional clients,” says Zhenyu Peng, Shanghai-based China Head of Securities Services. “Citi’s deep local market access and integrated capacities to react to ongoing market liberalization via QFII, RQFII and now Stock Connect continues to support offshore investors in attaining their goals.”

The announcement follows Aberdeen’s recent RQFII license approval by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Aberdeen’s application for RMB600 million investment quota has been granted by SAFE in October 2014. With the award, Aberdeen plans to launch a China A share fund.