This week, the Royal Bank of Canada became the first bank to complete cross-border Renminbi (RMB) payment using Canada’s new RMB Trading Hub through the hub’s designated clearing bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (Canada).
On 23 March, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), other Canadian banks and government delegates signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the RMB Trading Hub inauguration ceremony held in Toronto.
James Rausch, head of Transaction Banking - Banks, Brokers and Exchanges of RBC Investor & Treasury Services, commented on RBC securing Canada as a Renminbi trading hub. “Given RBC’s long-standing relationship with China, we view this as a positive development for Canada, for our clients, and for trade between Canada and China.”
Phillippe Savoy, managing director and head of Foreign Exchange Sales, Americas for RBC Capital Markets said he “looks forward to supporting the RMB Trading Hub in Canada, and expects it will enable Canadian companies to see greater access to Chinese trade and investment opportunities.”
The Renminbi, also known as the yuan, is gradually becoming internationalised and has become available for foreign trade over the course of this decade. Canada is now the latest of eight official offshore RMB clearing centres involved in the currency swap of the Chinese currency. However, Canada is the first country in the Americas to sign a reciprocal currency deal with China which enables direct business between the Canadian dollar and Chinese RMB.
RBC has been in communication with the People’s Bank of China since 1954 and in the past, has offered RMB products to clients in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.
