Standard Chartered has completed its first cross-border trade settlement transaction in renminbi (RMB). The deal follows the official signing of the pilot programme with Bank of China.

A renminbi payment from Standard Chartered in Hong Kong was initiated by the firm Chapman International Macao Commercial Offshore, a subsidiary of Gennon Industries based in Macau, to a company on the Chinese mainland, Dongguan Ming Hoi Dyeing and Finishing Fty Co. In order to settle the invoice of Dongguan Ming Hoi Dyeing, Chapman International opened a new trade settlement enterprise account (TSE) with Standard Chartered, and instructed the bank to make a payment in renminbi.

A second transaction involved New Ocean Energy Holdings, based in Hong Kong, receiving a renminbi payment via a TSE account with Standard Chartered from New Ocean Zhuhai, based on the mainland.

These two transactions make Standard Chartered the first international bank to support two-way renminbi-denominated trade between Hong Kong and China. Standard Chartered also provided additional foreign exchange conversion to further facilitate the transactions.

The bank has also confirmed it will be the first bank to conduct end-to-end transactions for corporates in Greater China and Asean countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand via an internet platform called Straight2Bank.

These transactions mark an important step in the renminbi trade settlement business, and will support greater cross-border trade activities.

“By leveraging our advantage in the renminbi product and service offering, we are confident that we will be able to extend and strengthen our suite of renminbi products and services to best serve the corporates in the Greater China and Asean region,” says Neil Daswani, regional head of transaction banking for Northeast Asia, Standard Chartered Bank.