StanChart China approved to be bond market maker

Regulator OKs lender's interbank bond market operations as China aspires developing its financial markets.

John Tan, head of global markets at Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd., in a statement said the lender "will work closely with the Chinese government and support its efforts in the development of the financial markets."

According to the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors, an industry group overseen by the People's Bank of China, China's interbank bond market had 21 market makers before the latest approval.

The Chinese government allowed the locally incorporated units of foreign lenders to underwrite corporate debt and sell yuan-denominated bonds on the local market last year, as stated in a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Standard Chartered said in June it planned to issue up to CNY3.5 billion ($513.3 million) worth of yuan-denominated bonds in China, but didn't give details on the time frame or the number of tranches.