BOC Hong Kong fends off new competition in yuan trading
Gradual liberalisation of the renminbi sees Bank of China's HK unit step up marketing efforts after losing sole clearing bank status
The Hong Kong unit of the state-owned Bank of China is stepping up marketing of its improved clearing services to western financial institutions in Hong Kong after losing its status as the sole clearing bank for yuan last year.
Bank of China (Hong Kong), which is 66.06 per cent owned by Bank of China, is considering extending its operating hours to cater to demand from overseas customers, especially from the United States.
"We now have 217 participating banks and hope to add more," BOCHK's head of yuan business Yang Ruhai told the South China Morning Post.
The BOCHK's swift move to increase more market participants in the offshore yuan business is a reaction to intensifying competition. It is seen as a pragmatic sign of the gradual liberalisation of the tightly regulated currency control market, especially since Hong Kong, the testing ground for yuan internationalisation and the largest offshore deposit jurisdiction, plays an important role in the overall currency strategy.
Two state-backed lenders, Bank of China's branch in Taipei and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's branch in Singapore, were designated by China's central bank as clearing banks, ending Bank of China Hong Kong's monopoly in the business.
Beijing now views a one-bank set-up as insufficient to satisfy global needs in the rapidly growing yuan market.
The yuan clearing business has been sought after by other lenders for many years, as a clearing bank would earn fees by settling offshore yuan payments between lenders and it has access to interbank bonds which offer much higher yields than offshore issues.