BOCI approved as clearing member in ICE Europe

Bank of China International (BOCI) has gained approval as a clearing member of the InterContinental Exchange (ICE) Europe, according to a statement Thursday.

The BOCI is an investment banking arm of the Bank of China Ltd (BOC).

The approval made BOCI the country's first financial institution to have memberships in the world's major commodity trading exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and London Metal Exchange.

The recent move by BOC came amid its efforts to tap businesses in commodity trading as China is one of the world's major commodity buyers.

In the BOC statement, the bank said the BOCI has recently been allowed to start futures brokerage business in the United States, and the bank is accelerating business plans in the global financial market in an effort to build an international business platform.