Representatives from Bank of China, Deutche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan, Royale Bank of Scotland and Barclays were among the attendees. According to the news release from the meeting, three main areas of international RMB trade were discussed: the facilitation of RMB payments and settlements, expanding the flow of RMB funds to international markets and increasing product and service range. As part of a joint agreement, the operating hours of RMB settlement in Hong Kong have been extended to 10:30 pm beginning at the end of this month.
he group had a very positive discussion, with concrete joint action plans set forth for enhancing offshore RMB market activities in both places, said to Eddie Yue, deputy chief executive of the HKMA in an article by the China Daily. e are now at the start of a new era, an era in where we will see a much greater use of RMB, driven by both policy and market forces. /p>
Standard Chartered said its three-to-six month commercial paper programme filled the gap between longer-term bonds and short-term deposits in the offshore renminbi funding market, acting as a another step to increase RMB liquidity in London. Ben Hung, chief executive of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, said in the bank official press release that Standard Chartered was promoting the use of RMB to its European customers rather than the dollar for their trade with China.
Standard Chartered estimates that by the first quarter of this year about 11 percent of all trade with China was being settled in renminbi. However, only 10 percent of that figure was attributed to trade between China and Europe, Mr Hung is quoted as saying in the bank press release. The vast majority was still trade between China and Hong Kong. he hard work will come in converting some of these corporates to use renminbi, said Mr Hung. hey have legitimate concerns on liquidity and volatility. /p>
In another milestone of Renminbi internationalisation, China and Japan started direct currency trading last Friday June 1, as Beijing made another step in allowing the use of RMB for internationally.
Additinally on the same day as the Standard Chartered release, HSBC expanded its interbank electronic trading platform to offer 24-hour streaming of rates for six different currencies against the offshore renminbi, including the euro, pound and Mexican peso.
