HSBC appoints UK-based head of renminbi business development

HSBC has appointed Paul Gooding as its head of European renminbi business development, a newly created role for the bank. Gooding will lead HSBC’s efforts in building an offshore renminbi centre in London to complement Hong Kong, which already has an established role in Asia.

Gooding, who is based in London, has been HSBC’s head of European credit trading for the past seven years. In his new role, he will be educating clients and liaising with regulators on the offshore renminbi.

His appointment comes shortly after George Osborne, the British chancellor, inked a deal with Hong Kong in January to turn London into a trading hub for the offshore renminbi. A forum will be set up to study clearing and settlement systems and the development of new renminbi-denominated products, among other things. The deal is seen to be positive for London and a further step towards the offshore renminbi becoming a global currency.

While the offshore renminbi cannot match the US dollar as an international currency as yet, renminbi-denominated trade settlement is only set to rise. Banks clearly see the potential in this market (particularly since it comes with the Chinese government’s weight thrown behind it) and are channelling resources to position themselves for growth.

Gooding will report to Spencer Lake, HSBC’s co-head of global markets in the UK. Before joining HSBC, Gooding spent five years at Credit Suisse as head of cash credit trading and prior to that worked for Greenwich Capital Markets (now part of Royal Bank of Scotland) in trading roles in London and Tokyo.

In Asia, HSBC’s dedicated offshore renminbi specialists include Candy Ho, HSBC’s Asia-Pacific head of renminbi business development, and Thomas Poon, HSBC Hong Kong’s head of business planning and strategy. Both are based in Hong Kong.