Singapore, 8 February 2013… MAS welcomed the announcement today by the People’s Bank of China (PBC) that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Singapore branch had been appointed as the clearing bank for Renminbi (RMB) in Singapore. MAS said that it would work closely with PBC and ICBC to implement the RMB clearing arrangement in Singapore.

2.   “The appointment of a RMB clearing bank in Singapore marks a key milestone in the growing financial cooperation between PBC and MAS, and will enable Singapore’s financial centre to play a useful role in facilitating greater use of the RMB for trade, investment and other economic activities in the region”, said Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director, MAS.

3.   Following the signing of the enhanced banking services commitments under the China–Singapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA) in July 2012, the Singapore branches of ICBC and Bank of China were granted Qualifying Full Bank privileges with effect from 5 October 2012. Out of these two Chinese banks, ICBC Singapore branch is authorised as the RMB clearing bank.