The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. and the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited — Manila Branch inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to provide financial services in support of bilateral investment and trade through capital market linkages between the Philippines and China.
People’s Republic of China State Councilor and Foreign Minister H. E. Wang Yi, DFA Secretary Hon. Enrique A. Manalo, and Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Philippines H.E. Huang Xilianwitnessed the MOU signing between PSE and BOCMNL.
Among the salient points covered by the MOU are the creation of a working group from both parties to explore areas of cooperation and exchange of information on settlement infrastructure and building the same for account opening, foreign exchange and cross-border settlement, among others.
“We welcome this strategic partnership and we look forward to working with Bank of China-Manila. This collaboration can potentially fast track the stock connect initiative between the PSE and the three stock exchanges in China,” said PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon. “The stock connect program is vital to PSE since this will open our stock market to more foreign investors and enhance liquidity in the stock market.”
BOCMNL will be providing the financial infrastructure to support the settlement of trading between the Philippine and Chinese exchanges, as well as provide direct Peso-RMB conversion required for the settlements. As the designated RMB Clearing Bank in the Philippines, the bank is in a unique position to make trading between stock exchanges easier, cheaper, and more efficient.
“Our mission has not changed in terms of acting as a bridge between the Philippines and China to facilitate bilateral trade and investment. The financial services we aim to provide to PSE, its brokers and other stakeholders will add more color to this mission,” said Deng Jun, Country Head of Bank of China Manila.
