【英语财经】伦敦金属交易所接受人民币抵押 LME accepts renminbi as collateral

The London Metal Exchange, which sets the price of industrial metals from copper to aluminium, will now accept renminbi as collateral against trades, a boost for the international use of China’s currency.

The exchange, founded in 1877 and bought by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing(HKEx) in 2012 will accept offshore renminbi as cash collateral for its clearing house following approval from the Bank of England.

It already accepts the dollar, sterling, euro and yen.

The move comes as Chinese companies are increasingly trading on the LME as they seek to hedge their exposure to fluctuating commodity prices. China is the world’s largest consumer and producer of most metals.

London has also sought to position itself as a centre for offshore renminbi trading, in competition with Paris and Frankfurt, as China’s currency is increasingly used for trade payments.

Trading volumes of renminbi in London more than doubled last year, according to the City of London Corporation.

Bank of China International (BOCI), which specialises in investment banki, is building a commodities team in London, hoping to help the parent bank’s huge roster of industrial clients hedge and trade on the LME.

BOCI will be the first member to submit offshore renminbi as collateral, the LME said. Bank of China (BOC) will also become a settlement bank for the exchange’s clearing house.

“This demonstrates the commitment of BOC to develop itself as a truly global bank,” Huabin Wang, deputy general manager at Bank of China’s London branch, said. The bank will work closely with LME to develop renminbi-denominated commodity products, it said in a separate statement.

China’s largest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, is also a member of the LME. This year, it bought the London operations of South Africa’s Standard Bank, which will further increase its trading abilities in London.

Smaller Chinese groups have also joined the LME with GF Financial Markets, a unit of China’s GF Securities, becoming the first to trade on the LME floor last year. China Merchants Securities was also approved as a member.

负责为铜、铝等工业金属定价的伦敦金属交易所(LME)，现在将接受人民币作为交易抵押品，这对人民币国际化是一大促进。

LME成立于1877年，2012年由香港交易及结算所有限公司(Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing)收购。经英国央行(Bank of England)批准，LME清算公司将接受离岸人民币作为现金抵押品。

LME已经接受了美元、英镑、欧元和日元。

此举出炉之际，中国企业正越来越多地在LME交易，以寻求对冲他们对大宗商品价格波动的敞口。中国是多数金属的全球最大消费者和生产者。

随着人民币越来越多地用于贸易支付，伦敦还试图将自己定位为离岸人民币交易中心，与巴黎和法兰克福展开竞争。

根据伦敦金融城管理当局(City of London Corporation)的数据，去年伦敦的人民币交易量增加了一倍以上。

专门负责投行工作的中银国际(BOCI)正在伦敦建立大宗商品团队，希望帮助母行的大量工业客户在LME对冲风险和开展交易。

LME表示，中银国际将是提交离岸人民币作为抵押的第一个成员。中国银行(BOC)也将成为LME清算公司的一家结算银行。

中国银行伦敦分行副总经理王化斌说：“这表明中国银行致力于成为一家真正的全球性银行”。该行在另一份声明中表示，将与LME紧密合作，发展以人民币计价的大宗商品产品。

中国最大银行中国工商银行(ICBC)也是LME的成员。今年中国工行收购了南非标准银行(South African Standard Bank)的伦敦业务，这将进一步增加该行在伦敦的交易能力。

一些较小的中资集团也加入了LME，其中广发证券(GF Securities)旗下的广发金融交易(GF Financial Markets)去年率先在LME进行交易。招商证券(China Merchants Securities)也获批成为会员。

译者/彩云