Standard Chartered Becomes First Foreign Bank for Yuan Settlement

飞雪寒冰

Standard Chartered Bank (China) became the first foreign bank to settle cross-border trade in yuan on Aug. 31 under a new pilot program, the bank said in an emailed press statement on Sept. 1.

Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Bank of East Asia and Singapore-based DBS Bank are awaiting final approval to offer settlement services.

The trial program enables Standard Chartered to participate in the development of China's capital market "more comprehensively and deeply," the bank's China chairman Katherine Tsang said in the press release

飞雪寒冰

Cross-border yuan settlement in Shanghai has exceeded 39 million yuan since the official launch of the program in early July, the statement said, citing Fang Xinghai, director of the Shanghai Financial Service Office.

The central bank announced rules governing trials for yuan settlement on July 2.

The State Council approved the yuan settlement program on April 8. The program links Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan with Hong Kong and Macau.