Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has set up a desk in London to help European and Chinese companies do business, reflecting Britain's ambitions to become a major offshore yuan trading hub, the bank said Thursday.
RBS says the desk will offer guidance and advice across markets, including regulatory insight and product support. The team will be led by Janet Ming, chief of corporate sales in Shanghai for RBS China.
A similar strategy is also in the pipeline at HSBC, which is developing offshore yuan services in a team led by Paul Gooding, the bank's former European head of credit trading.
The U.K. government, which owns a controlling stake in RBS, wants to make London more attractive for yuan trading. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan announced plans last month to help the private sector explore yuan trading opportunities in the City.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority pledged in January to extend its yuan settlement system by five hours to 1730 GMT. At present, offshore yuan trades in Europe must be cleared by early in the trading day, unlike in the U.S. where they continue to the end of the day. London has a 15% share of offshore yuan trading, according to HSBC estimates.
The volume of global payments made in yuan has surged during the last 18 months, according to financial messaging network SWIFT. Still, the Chinese currency represents just 0.29% of the total value of global payments.
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