Starting from February 10, 2025, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has allowed Bond Connect participants to use eligible onshore bonds as collateral for RMB repo trades in Hong Kong.
In the first two weeks since the launch of the new offshore RMB bond repurchase (repo) arrangement, more than 15 global investors have successfully used Bloomberg solutions to complete repo trades with designated market makers.
Dymon Asia Capital was one of the first global investors that completed offshore RMB repo transactions using bonds under Northbound Bond Connect as collateral via Bloomberg’s solutions.
“We are excited to be able to use onshore Chinese bonds as collateral in repo trading under the new arrangement. It provides us a set of new tools to manage liquidity, enhancing flexibility in our investment strategies,” said Shawn Yuan, co-chief investment officer of the Dymon Asia Multi-Strategy Investment Fund and CIO of the Dymon Asia China Absolute Return Bond Fund at Dymon Asia Capital, in a statement.
Offshore investors who have executed trades using Bloomberg’s solutions also include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited Seoul Branch, The Bank of East Asia, Limited, Bank of China Hong Kong Limited, Agricultural Bank of China Limited Hong Kong Branch, China CITIC Bank International Limited, China Construction Bank Hong Kong Branch, China International Capital Corporation (International) Limited’s subsidiary, China Zheshang Bank Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong Branch), Chiyu Banking Corporation Limited, CITIC Securities International Capital Management Limited, CNCB Hong Kong Investment Limited, Eastfort Asset Management Private Limited, GF Global Capital Limited and Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited, amongst others.
Their counterpart market makers of completing those trades are Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Agricultural Bank of China Limited Hong Kong Branch, China CITIC Bank International Limited, China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited, Hang Seng Bank Limited, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, amongst others.
“Supporting the launch of the new offshore repo arrangement underscores Bloomberg’s commitment to connecting global investors with China’s financial markets through our advanced technology,” said Bing Li, head of Asia Pacific at Bloomberg, in a statement. “We are proud to offer solutions from the outset of this new arrangement to facilitate global investors’ access to the new markets and to support the offshore RMB markets in enhancing liquidity.”
To facilitate e-trading of the offshore RMB bond repo, Bloomberg, in collaboration with the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (National Interbank Funding Center) (CFETS), has launched a new solution, which enables offshore investors to execute RMB bond repo trades via the Bloomberg Terminal with designated market makers on CFETS’ platform. The new solution provides enhanced efficiency as it is seamlessly integrated with offshore investors’ existing workflows.
Also in the news, Bloomberg reported that China’s strategy of defending its currency by choking local liquidity is sending ripples throughout the financial system, squeezing banks and fueling losses at bond funds.
The latest sign of a cash crunch at Chinese banks is a sharp drop in their lending through repurchase contracts, or repo. The country’s biggest banks cut their lending in the repo market by around two-thirds in mid-February compared with the daily average last year, according to people familiar with the matter speaking to Bloomberg.
“If banks’ cash-borrowing pressure keeps building and the costs further climb, it may limit their ability to issue loans and support the economy,” Yang Yewei, an analyst at local brokerage Guosheng Securities, wrote in a note and reported by Bloomberg. “We doubt tightness in funding can be sustained for a long period.”