StanChart expands dealer base in China

StanChart senior executive John Tan said the bank's addition of dealers by two-thirds in three to five years aims to intensify presence in the country.

StanChart plans to expand staff in its Shanghai dealing room to 130 from 80 currently, and is seeking regulatory approval to become a bond market maker in China as well as an underwriter of Chinese corporate debt, China head of global markets John Tan said in a Reuters report.

"China's nascent bond market will be much, much bigger in size in the next three to five years. This is a very important market for us," Tan said in an interview in Shanghai.

Foreign banks including StanChart, Citigroup Inc and HSBC Holdings Plc are seeking opportunities in China's fledgling capital markets, as the government encourages bond sales to reduce the economy's reliance on bank lending.

China has allowed foreign banks to act as market makers in the country's interbank bond market and sell yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong and mainland China. The government will soon let them underwrite corporate bonds and conduct initial public offerings in Shanghai.