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China issues new rules on RMB settlement accounts

By Qiang Xiaoji (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-09-30 14:33

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, recently released new rules to enhance supervision of operations of overseas institutions' RMB settlement accounts in China, chinanews.com.cn reported Thursday.

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According to the regulations that the PBOC released on Wednesday, overseas institutions' application to set up RMB settlement accounts should be approved by branches of the central bank, and those who meet the requirements will get permission certificates issued by the PBOC.

The new rules ask banks to manage overseas institutions' accounts of local currency and foreign currencies separately. The accounts of domestic institutions and overseas institutions should also be separately managed, the document says, as a way to supervise the money flows of overseas institutions' accounts and curb money laundering.

The new rules will be implemented on Oct 1.