(5 October 2012 – Taiwan) Citibank Taiwan is ready to immediately extend its renminbi-based products and services as soon as China and Taiwan have worked out currency clearing and settlement rules.Citibank Taiwan chairman Victor Kuan said his bank stands ready to tap into renminbi-linked business.
Taiwan’s central bank and the Financial Supervisory Commission are intent on becoming the next big offshore renminbi or yuan business centre, right after Hong Kong as the Chinese currency gained increasing weight in global trade.
“Taiwan has great potential to become another offshore yuan hub aided by capital and trade settlement needs,” Kuan said. “The development may be evident in three to five years.”
Regulators should learn from Hong Kong in dealing with regulatory easing so whatever customers can do with renminbi there such as renminbi-denominated deposits, savings, remittances and bonds can also be done in Taiwan, Kuan said.
Currently, renminbi and New Taiwan dollar settlements are conducted through Hong Kong, where the Bank of China (Hong Kong) offers renminbi cash-settlement services to the Hong Kong branches of state-run Bank of Taiwan and Mega International Commercial Bank.
China, however, has not appointed a clearing intermediary after signing a memorandum of understanding over a currency clearing agreement this August. The Bank of Taiwan’s Shanghai branch will be in charge of New Taiwan dollar supply on the Taiwan side. The MOU is to take effect within 60 days.