The UK entity of the Bank of China has joined LCH’s SwapClear as a new member, becoming the first from a Chinese banking group to join the interest rate clearing house.
By joining SwapClear, Bank of China now has access to clearing of interest rate derivatives, and will also act as a clearing broker to its client base.
“I’m delighted to welcome Bank of China as LCH’s first clearing member from a Chinese banking group, an important milestone for LCH in the Asia Pacific region,” said Kate Birchall, head Asia Pacific, LCH.
“This is another significant step in the ongoing collaboration between the markets of China and the UK. Over the past year we have expanded the number of currencies cleared at SwapClear and look forward to providing Bank of China and its clients access to LCH’s clearing services and global liquidity pool.”
In 2015, the Bank of China became the first Chinese banking group to offer protected payments system (PPS) services to LCH’s clearing members.
The extension of the bank’s relationship with LCH will enable it to benefit from the efficiencies associated with clearing at the world’s largest multi-currency pool of interest rate derivatives liquidity.
“The clearing membership is a vital component of our group financial market infrastructure. It will enhance our group risk management, compliance capability and our product competitiveness. I believe we will continue to deepen our co-operation in more areas to promote the internationalisation of the Renminbi and Chinese institutions,” added Wenjan Fang, CEO, Bank of China UK.