The world's largest bank by assets has bought nearly two-thirds of London-based Standard Bank.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has widened its global reach yet further by agreeing to acquire a majority (60 per cent) stake in London-based Standard Bank, part of South Africa-headquartered Standard Bank Group.

The Chinese banking group had already acquired a 20 per cent stake in Standard Bank Group in 2008 and a 80 per cent stake in Standard Bank Argentina in 2012.

The exact monetary value of the acquisition was not disclosed in the ICBC statement.

When the purchase is completed, the business, with operations in London, New York, Singapore, Dubai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai, will focus on the global markets business and provide trading services in commodities, foreign exchange, interest rates, credit and equities to clients worldwide, a statement from ICBC this week said.

The move was made as China responds to continued strong demand in the Asian country for commodities, Jiang Jianqing, chairman of ICBC, said.

“The acquisition of Standard Bank Plc is of strategic importance as ICBC proactively responds to this demand. The deal is also the first such transaction in which a Chinese bank enters the global markets business through the acquisition of an international bank,” he said.

“The acquisition of Standard Bank Plc is conducive for ICBC to establish a UK-based financial services platform that can leverage capabilities of each of ICBC’s UK entities to achieve greater synergies. Through this platform, ICBC can play an even bigger role in the Sino-UK bilateral trade and investment by better servicing clients from both countries,” Yi Huiman, president of ICBC, said.

The world's largest bank by assets, ICBC signed a memorandum of understanding in January with France's Societe Generale to provide each other with services. For more detail, see here.