Kuala Lumpur, 25 April 2012 – Eleven (11) financial institutions have joined Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation Sdn Bhd’s (MyClear) Renminbi settlement services in RENTAS. The service will enable trade settlement in Renmimbi between businesses in Malaysia and China, as well as Renmimbi funds transfer via the electronic transfer of funds and securities system (RENTAS).

In 2011, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) appointed MyClear and Bank of China (Malaysia) Berhad (BOCM) to jointly formulate a new Renminbi settlement in the real-time electronic transfer of funds & securities (RENTAS) system. The service is now operated by MyClear, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and BOCM has been appointed by BNM as the Onshore Settlement Institution for Renminbi in RENTAS.

The 11 financial institutions are Malayan Banking Berhad, CIMB Bank Berhad, Public Bank Berhad, Hong Leong Bank Berhad, RHB Bank Berhad, AmBank (M) Berhad, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, Hong Leong Investment Bank Berhad and OSK Investment Bank Berhad. In an effort to educate the financial industry in Malaysia on the benefits of using RMB for clearing and settlements, MyClear and BOCM recently organized a seminar entitled “Renminbi Payment, Clearing & Settlement in Malaysia”. The seminar was attended by representatives from 70 financial institutions in Malaysia.

“The bilateral trade volume between Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China has rapidly increased over the past few years to about USD90 billion in year 2011. Malaysia has grown to be number one in the ASEAN region in terms of bilateral trade volume with the People’s Republic of China. As a result, Chinese Yuan or Renminbi has become a more widely used settlement currency in the region,” said Mr Zheng Jingbo, the Chief Executive Officer of BOCM.

Encik Mohd Suhail Amar Suresh, Managing Director of MyClear said, “In addition to contributing to the development of the foreign currency bond market, the renmimbi settlement service in RENTAS also serves as a catalyst for the integration of payment and settlement linkages for the cross-border intermediation of both wholesale and retail funds transfer in the region. This integration is an important step towards the development of a foreign currency payment infrastructure that will reduce the cost of doing business and enable the expansion of scope and efficiency of cross border payments.”

The RMB RENTAS system was launched on 21 March 2012. Financial institutions that join before 18 May 2012 will enjoy a waiver of the RMB RENTAS service fee until 31 December 2012.