Standard Chartered’s Renminbi Capabilities: ‘One Currency, One Expert’

Standard Chartered Bank in step with global trends in the market place introduced its Renminbi capabilities to a select group of leading local corporates and representatives from the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China, yesterday at the Cinnamon Lakeside.

Standard Chartered Bank’s message of ‘one currency one expert’ was delivered by Standard Chartered Bank China Limited Product Manager Transaction Banking Chris X.S. Ye, a specialist in Cash products and Renminbi Cross-Border Trade Settlement product management.
Standard Chartered Bank China Limited facilitated the first RMB trade settlement payment which entitled the Bank to be first RMB Settlement and Agency Bank licensed to deal in the product from among foreign banks in China. For this leadership in affording access to the Renminbi business, Standard Chartered China won the ‘2010 Best Renminbi Cross-Border Settlement Bank Award’ from Trade Finance Magazine and the China Trade Finance Web.  
The award, considered highly prestigious within the banking industry and among regulators, is judged by the China Trade Finance Research Institute, which is supported by the China Banking Association. Standard Chartered Sri Lanka has currently opened Renminbi Nostro accounts with Standard Chartered China and Standard Chartered Hong Kong, and thus Standard Chartered Sri Lanka is now equipped to offer a comprehensive suite of solutions encompassing Renminbi Cash Management, Trade Finance and foreign exchange services to its clients.
“Standard Chartered has been present for over a century in both Sri Lanka and China, and today China is a main trading partner to many local corporates and enterprises. With the increasing momentum in RMB trade settlement, Standard Chartered is now the top RMB clearing bank among foreign banks in China, a leader in trading RMB spot and forward contracts in the new FX interbank market in Hong Kong, and the first to offer RMB bond services to wholesale clients in Hong Kong. We look forward to leveraging on this expertise and capability to ensure that our clients too may avail themselves of the opportunities made possible by transacting in RMB,” said Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka CEO
 Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar.
Standard Chartered Bank continues to remain at the forefront of market developments, offering advice and capabilities to effectively and efficiently meet clients’ needs. In addition to providing RMB clearing, trade settlement, documentary trade services, currency exchange, liquidity management, and financing solutions, Standard Chartered addresses a comprehensive spectrum of clients’ needs including managing Renminbi exposure risk and returns on Renminbi surplus collected from trade. The bank is also a leading provider of offshore RMB deliverables and non-deliverables for managing RMB exposure as well as RMB denominated structured investment products.
Bingumal Thewarathanthri, Director/Head of Transaction Banking highlighted the important role played by Standard Chartered Sri Lanka in taking the group initiative of the Renminbi business forward. “Standard Chartered Bank today is the largest trade bank in the world, and having RMB in the currency portfolio is part of its ongoing commitment to provide enhanced services to local businesses trading on the Chinese corridor,” he stated.