Derivs - Clearing and Exchanges

China’s financial markets have undergone a huge transformation over the past few years with a series of reforms aimed at improving access for foreign investors and liberalising its exchange rate mechanism. GlobalRMB reached out to several industry bodies to get a sense of initiatives they are working on and where China’s reform priorities lie this year.

Tradeweb is working with Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) to provide the infrastructure for Bond Connect, which will give foreign investors access to the Chinese interbank bond market, GlobalRMB has learned.

Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) chief executive Charles Li laid out the exchange’s plans for 2017, with a strong focus on expanding its RMB offering through new products such as Chinese treasury bond futures and connectivity with China’s bond market.

RMB transactions may be shifting onshore but efforts still need to be made to improve the liquidity of offshore renminbi to aid the internationalisation of the currency, according to a report released by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week.

The Bank for International Settlements’ triannual survey found that the renminbi has risen above other emerging market currencies in trading patterns across spot and derivatives, BIS said in a detailed report on the state of global foreign exchange (FX) markets.

In this round-up, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange saw surges in trading of offshore RMB (CNH) futures, BMO became the first Canadian bank to become market maker for CAD-RMB direct trading, and the country of Djibouti is launching a Silk Road Bank. Plus a recap of GlobalRMB’s top stories this week.

It's now all Trump, all the time – especially for China. In this round-up, a recap of our top stories from an eventful week. In broader news, the RMB struggles against the dollar, China’s foreign exchange (FX) reserves hit new lows in October, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank readies a seat at the table for Hong Kong.

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has announced plans to launch a renminbi futures contract, with Gaurang Desai, CEO of the exchange, telling GlobalRMB the contract has already received regulatory approval.

The Chinese Golden Week holidays meant not a lot was going in China, but there was still plenty of renminbi news occurring in the rest of the world. In this round-up, more updates on Shenzhen Connect rules, China-domiciled funds land on Clearstream, and Fred Bergsten says China is not a currency manipulator. Plus, a recap of our coverage this week.

In this round-up, China is keen to expand FTZ sphere, yield differential continues to narrow between offshore and onshore bonds, and London reiterates desire to promote RMB internationalisation. Plus, a recap of our coverage this week.

The upcoming launch of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect will give offshore investors access to close to 90% of China’s domestic stock market. Now the focus for the mutual market access (MMA) scheme will turn to new products including ETFs and bonds.

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect Scheme was officially given the go ahead by China’s State Council on Tuesday, with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) making the breakthrough announcement that the entire Stock Connect scheme will now operate without aggregate trading quotas. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) and derivatives are due to come in future expansions.