Standard Chartered Bank said on Monday that it sold Rmb1 billion $157 million of three-year, renminbi-denominated bonds, becoming the first issuer to tap the country’s domestic bond market after the International Monetary Fund agreed to add the renminbi to its reserve currency basket.
The sale of so-called panda bonds follows similar-sized deals from HSBC and the Hong Kong unit of Bank of China in September, making the Asia-focused British lender the third foreign commercial bank to raise funds in the Chinese domestic market.
On December 1, the IMF admitted the renminbi into its benchmark currency basket, becoming the fifth currency after the US dollar, pound, euro, and...