(4 June 2015 – China/Australia) Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has been granted a Renminbi (RMB) licence for its Shanghai Branch by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).
The RMB licence enables CBA to broaden its institutional offering to incorporate all aspects of trade and investment for clients doing business in the fast growing and deep trade corridor between Australia and China.
The licence complements CBA's Beijing and Shanghai branch offering and the bank's presence in the recently expanded Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
James Rickward, executive general manager International, Institutional Banking & Markets said, “Our clients can already open RMB accounts, settle trades in RMB and enjoy executing RMB electronically using our CommBiz Markets platform with single sign on settlements capability.
“The RMB licence increases our ability to deliver holistic tailored solutions that maximise business opportunities and minimise risk for our cross border clients.
“With growth in trade and investment flows expected to accelerate between China and Australia as a result of the China Free Trade Agreement, CBA is now well positioned to support our clients in our specialist sectors of Natural Resources, Utilities, Transport, and Financial Institutions as well as those clients either trading or investing in Australia or New Zealand where we are seeing strong deal flow specifically in the property and agricultural sectors,” Rickward said.
“CBA is committed to China and has been closely following the development in RMB and are a foundation member of the Australia ASX-Bank of China RMB settlement platform launched last year.
“We expect to see ongoing developments in this space as companies understand the benefit of using RMB ranging from cost savings, better trade terms and much improved settlements cycle.”
A dedicated RMB solutions team headed by Sangeeta Venkatesan has been established to assist clients understand the solutions available to them when dealing in the Australia-China corridor and the benefits associated with using RMB as a trade or investment currency.
CBA has had a presence in the Chinese market for over two decades after opening its first China representative office in 1992 in Beijing.
CBA opened its first institutional banking branch in Shanghai’s Pudong District in 2010, followed by a second branch in Beijing in late 2013.
The Group also participates in retail commercial banking and insurance in China through its International Financial Services business unit.
CBA has a long term partnership with two City Commercial Banks; Bank of Hangzhou and Oilu Bank. In addition BoComm Life is a life insurance joint venture between CBA and Bank of Communications, China’s fifth-largest bank.