ANZ deepens its regional presence

The renminbi is a big topic for treasurers though it remains an unknown quantity. What trends are you seeing from your clients concerning the currency, and what are your broader plans for China?
We are open for business regarding the “redback” both onshore and offshore, and we have a foreign exchange license quota for CNY and for CNH [CNY is the onshore counterpart of CNH, which is offshore renminbi]. Every large bank with a presence in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong has developed onshore and offshore renminbi capability for clients, but we are the first Australian bank to do so. As the renminbi becomes more flexible and freely tradable, clearly it will become a dominant currency in Asia. However, at the moment, we are seeing a relatively small number of transactions and these are mostly from our smaller clients. It will take a while for long-term US dollar and euro-denominated contracts for goods and services to switch to renminbi, but some of our smaller commercial corporate clients who are using renminbi say it is straightforward to use and their suppliers are happy to use it.