The RMB Internationalisation Paris, a hub for Europe November 2012 Table of Contents Foreword.......................................................................................................................... 7 Glossary........................................................................................................................... 9 Executive.Summary....................................................................................................... 11 Part.I:.The.Emergence.of.a.New.“Settlement.Currency”.............................................. 17 I. The private sector and the RMB internationalisation ................................................18 1.1. The Trade Settlement Scheme ..............................................................................................18 A. An irreversible trend? ..........................................................................................................18 a. Such initiative is part of a more global China FX deregulation trend ......................... 18 b. An exponential acceleration of cross-border RMB trade settlements ........................ 19 c. Cross-border trade settlements still effected mainly in Hong Kong ........................... 20 d. The acceleration of RMB cross-border trade settlements offers new opportunities (and new challenges) for the Eurozone trade relationship with China .....................20 e. The use of RMB by overseas corporate and financial institutions ............................... 22 B. A strict control of the offshore RMB liquidity by PBoC ..................................................24 a. The RMB offshore liquidity is mainly in Hong Kong.. .................................................. 24 b. The PBoC strict control of the Hong Kong offshore RMB liquidity ........................... 24 c. The cross-border RMB payment system: operational challenges still exist. ............... 25 1.2. From an offshore pool of liquidity to an emerging international capital market ...........26 A. RMB bonds issued from Hong Kong (and so far marginally, from other financial centres) ..................................................................................................................................26 a. A flexible legal environment ............................................................................................. 26 b. A controlled legal environment ........................................................................................ 26 c. Trends in the offshore RMB bond market issuance ....................................................... 27 B. The offshore RMB CD market ............................................................................................31 C. The loan market ...................................................................................................................32 1.3. Onshore RMB (equities and bonds) accessible to offshore investors ...............................33 A. Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) .............................................................33 B. RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) .................................................33 II. The Public Sector and the RMB Internationalisation ................................................34 Part.II:.Paris.and.the.RMB.Internationalisation.......................................................... 37 I. The Paris Contribution to the RMB trade settlement scheme ...................................39 1.1 The SWIFT RMB data ............................................................................................................39 A. RMB as a global payment currency ...................................................................................39 B. RMB transactions .................................................................................................................39 1.2 French RMB trade settlement and RMB deposits ...............................................................40 A. French RMB trade settlements ...........................................................................................40 B. RMB deposits with Paris banks ..........................................................................................40 II. The Paris RMB financial services offer ........................................................................40 2.1 Account services .....................................................................................................................41 2.2 RMB cross-border funds transfer .........................................................................................41 2.3 Foreign exchange and time zone ...........................................................................................42 III. French Issuers and the RMB debt capital markets ...................................................44 3.1 French corporates are among the most active European issuers .......................................44 A. European issuers ..................................................................................................................44 B. An important number of potential new French issuers ...................................................44 C. Listing and depository system ............................................................................................45 D. The use of proceeds: illustration ........................................................................................45 3.2 The Paris offshore RMB loan market ....................................................................................47 IV. Paris and the new emerging RMB financial centres .................................................47 4.1 Criteria for a RMB financial centre .......................................................................................47 4.2 The emerging RMB financial centres ....................................................................................48 A. Taipei .....................................................................................................................................48 B. Singapore ...............................................................................................................................49 Part.III:.The.Increasing.Role.of.the.Debt.Capital.Markets.......................................... 53 I. The bond markets international growing role .............................................................54 1.1 The global bond capital market trends .................................................................................54 1.2 The growing importance of the euro capital markets .........................................................55 A. The euro as one of the major international currencies ....................................................55 B. Paris, the leading euro-denominated bond market ..........................................................56 1.3 The Chinese corporate bond financing and the debt capital market ................................59 A. Onshore ................................................................................................................................60 B. Offshore .................................................................................................................................61 II. The Sino-French Financial Cooperation .....................................................................62 2.1 Paris EUROPLACE organisation and missions ..................................................................62 2.2 The Sino-French Financial Cooperation ..............................................................................63 A. 2010 Municipality of Shanghai/Paris EUROPLACE MOU ............................................63 B. 2012 NAFMII/ Paris EUROPLACE MOU ........................................................................64 Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 65 Exhibits.......................................................................................................................... 69 6 n The RMB Internationalisation Paris, a hub for Europe The RMB Internationalisation Paris, a hub for Europe n 7 Foreword The internationalisation of the RMB is a key event for the international monetary system and a key opportunity for international corporates and market players to support the development of their business with China. Paris EUROPLACE, the leading Eurozone financial center, which gathers all the market users – corporates, including SMEs, investors, banks and financial institutions - is more than ready to contribute to this process and develop RMB instruments and services on European level. More particularly, the French corporates are closely following the development of the RMB denominated financial and banking services. The growing commitment of French companies, large and SMEs, in China confirms the importance for French companies to gain access to RMB banking and financial products. This need is already highlighted by several key facts and trends: - Nearly 10% of the Sino-French trade is settled in RMB; - The growing use by French corporate of the RMB banking services: the major international banks in Paris are offering to their clients from Hong Kong and also from Paris, all the RMB instruments and services already available. Moreover, the volume of RMB deposits in Paris already amounts to RMB 10bn. - The French companies are among the major European users of RMB-denominated