Standard Chartered is to start offering renminbi (RMB) payments, clearing and settlement, FX and trade services to corporate and institutional clients in ASEAN markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
The expansion of the bank's RMB services comes shortly after its development of two-way RNB trade settlement with China and RMB nostro services to ASEAN banks. Standard Chartered was the first international bank to develop such services and the first to lend RMB overseas under the scheme announced earlier this year by the Chinese government to facilitate cross-border trade settlement in the country's currency. Jiten Arora, Regional head of transaction banking, Southern Asia, at Standard Chartered says: "There is a lot of potential for the renminbi to gain momentum as a trade settlement currency in the region, given the importance of China as a trading partner to the ASEAN block. By working with Standard Chartered, corporates and financial institutions in ASEAN countries can now leverage the opportunities that are emerging as this scheme unfolds. We are now offering renminbi services for settlement with mainland China companies from Hong Kong, Macau and across the ASEAN countries."The Bank will further expand its offering in ASEAN to offer additional services such as RMB- denominated deposits and current accounts from October 2009 onwards.Mr Arora says: "As a designated agent and settlement bank for renminbi, we also look forward to working closely with our clients to leverage these opportunities as well as help them get their counterparties onto the approved Mainland Designated Entity (MDE) list in China."
