
Here are the key takeaways from the Singapore-China financial cooperation meeting
China’s eager to tap on Singapore’s investor base.
Aiming to arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement, Singapore’s central bank has detailed the three key initiatives announced in the financial cooperation meeting, aiming to further expand channels for cross-border RMB flows and enrich the ecosystem to support greater use of the RMB outside China.
According to a statement by the Monetary Association of Singapore, the city-state has agreed with China to extend cross-border RMB initiatives to Chongqing Municipality, China’s fastest-growing city. Previously, the initiatives existed only with respect to Suzhou and Tianjin.
“Singapore-based banks will be allowed to lend RMB to companies in Chongqing and Chongqing-based companies may issue RMB bonds in Singapore and fully repatriate the proceeds,” MAS says.
With cross-border channels strengthened, MAS says RMB activities in Singapore would spike. It would also lead to a larger variety of financing solutions for Chinese corporates and help strengthen financial connectivity between the two countries’ western regions.
For the second initiative, MAS says Singapore’s quota would double from RMB50b to RMB100b under the RMB qualified foreign institutional investor scheme.
“This is in response to the strong interest by Singapore-based asset managers and investors to invest in China,” the statement said.
With the larger quota, more fund managers in Singapore will be be able to offer more investors a wider range of RMB fund products.
“It will also help bring greater liquidity to China’s capital markets and help to broaden their investor base,” MAS added.
Lastly, the MAS and the People’s Bank of China has also agreed to renew and enhance their bilateral currency swap agreement which was signed in March 2013 and is due to expire in March 2016.
Third, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the People’s Bank of China agreed to renew and enhance the bilateral currency swap arrangement (BCSA) established between the two central banks. The existing PBC-MAS BCSA was signed in March 2013 and is due to expire in March 2016.
“By providing timely liquidity support to market participants, a stronger BCSA will help anchor market confidence as Singapore’s RMB market continues to grow,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, MAS says a new perspective in the two countries’ financial cooperation agenda is the agreement to enhance capital market cooperation. MAS also explained two initiatives to roll out this process.
“First, there was agreement to institute a regular high-level dialogue between MAS and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). This will help the two regulators to exchange views and come to a common understanding on regulatory issues that impinge on their respective capital markets,” MAS said.
“Second, MAS and CSRC agreed to explore product collaboration to broaden capital market offerings. With greater capital market connectivity, Singapore will be well-placed to support the needs of Chinese policy banks, corporates and investors under China’s One-Belt-One-Road initiative,” MAS added.