DBS Obtains Bond Settlement Agent License in China

DBS Bank (China) announced that it received a Bond Settlement Agent license in the China Interbank Bond Market, making it the first and only Singapore bank to be granted such a license.

DBS Bank (China) has received a Bond Settlement Agent license from the People’s Bank of China to act as a bond settlement agent in the China Interbank Bond Market, the lender said in a statement on Tuesday. Prior to the license, DBS China has been involved in the China bond market as Trial Bond Market Maker in the China interbank bond market for years.

This license will enable DBS China to serve overseas investors who are interested in the China bond market because from now on, we can provide the bond settlement or custody services to them.

The China bond market is the largest in Asia and the second-largest in the world and is of significant interest to international investors. With the license, we look forward to introducing more overseas customers to the China bond market and providing our comprehensive service to international institutional investors said Neil Ge, CEO of DBS China in the statement.

China’s onshore bond market worth was 88 trillion yuan ($13.12 trillion) in February last year, according to the country’s central bank. Since last April, the phased inclusion of Chinese sovereign bonds and debt sold by three key state-owned policy banks into the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index has attracted a new group of investors into China’s domestic bonds.

Up to then, inflows have been dominated by central banks and sovereign wealth funds. With the inclusion of China bonds into such indices, private-sector managers following the index would be looking to join the market.