China may allow overseas lenders to underwrite more debt

BEIJING - Overseas banks may be allowed to underwrite a wider range of debt on China's interbank bond market as the nation seeks to develop its financial system, according to a statement from the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (Nafmii) on Wednesday.

The association said it's working on a mechanism to assess the performance of underwriters and that "local banks and overseas banks will be treated equally". The statement gave no timeframe for the review and didn't say how many overseas banks may be allowed to underwrite bonds issued by non-financial institutions.

Between five and six overseas banks may be authorized to join State-owned Chinese lenders as underwriters of commercial papers and medium-term notes in months, according to Standard Chartered Plc, which said it is working with Nafmii, formed by the People's Bank of China in 2007.