ICBC aims to double assets outside China in 3 yrs

DUBAI, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (1398.HK) (601398.SS) (ICBC) aims to double its assets outside China within three years but plans no immediate Middle East or U.S. acquisitions, an executive said on Monday.

ICBC, China's largest commercial bank, wants to increase its business abroad to 10 percent from 5 percent of total asset volume within the next two to three years, Vice President Wang Lili told Reuters at the launch of the bank's Dubai subsidiary.

"We have to be more international ... and the opportunities are there," Wang said.

She said the bank, which opened a branch in New York last week, did not have plans to acquire U.S. financial assets "in the very near future."

Last month, the Chinese bank opened a branch in Sydney, Wang said, and was opening another in Doha on Tuesday.

ICBC was not planning to expand in the Middle East by way of mergers and acquisitions, she said.

"We do not have this plan at the moment. We need more time and to do some market studies," Wang said.

Last month ICBC Chairman Jiang Jianqing said the bank was interested in beefing up its presence in the Middle East and other Asian countries through mergers and acquisitions as well as through setting up new entities.

ICBC's biggest overseas foray to date has been in South Africa, where it owns 20 percent of Standard Bank (SBKJ.J).

Last month, Nomura Holding (8604.T), Japan's largest brokerage, agreed to buy Lehman Brothers' European, Middle East and Asia operations after the U.S. investment bank filed for bankruptcy.

Following its Chinese clients who are expanding into the Middle East, and wealth management were ICBC's two primary business aims in the region, Wang said.

She said the licence given to ICBC by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) limits the bank to investment banking and wealth management, but said they were seeking a licence in the United Arab Emirates for a fuller range of services, including trade settlements. (Reporting by Raissa Kasolowsky, editing by Matthew Lewis)