BNP Paribas has received a license to underwrite bond sales by foreign companies in China, the latest step by Chinese regulators to increase foreign participation in mainland debt markets.
BNP Paribas is the third locally-incorporated foreign bank in China to receive a license to underwrite so-called "Panda bonds", following HSBC and Standard Chartered.
"With the growing maturity of multi-national corporations’ operations onshore in China, foreign parent companies are increasingly seeking to tap the domestic bond market as an important and highly cost-effective source of renminbi funding to support their Chinese expansion needs,” CG Lai, deputy chief executive of BNP Paribas China, said in a statement.