BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank have emerged as the first two foreign lenders to obtain licenses to underwrite corporate debt issued by non-financial institutions in China.
On 2 September the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (中国银行间市场交易商协会) (NAFMII) announced that it had given its approval for BNP Paribas (China) and Deutsche Bank (China) to engage in “type A” lead underwriting services for debt financing instruments issued by non-financial enterprises.
The move arrived just after NAFMII announced on 21 August the launch of work to assess foreign-invested banks hoping to participate in the type-A lead underwriting market.
Four other foreign invested banks in China are believed to be applying for corporate bond underwriting licenses, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank.
