Standard Chartered has signed Renminbi (RMB) cross border trade settlement account agreements with five Mena based banks.

The move will allow these banks to open RMB accounts in China and facilitate trade activities between these banks and China.

The five banks are: Alinma Bank Saudi Arabia, Bank Al Falah Pakistan, BankMed Lebanon, Habib Metropolitan Bank Pakistan and Union Bank Jordan.

The agreements were signed at the Annual Thought Leadership Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Bankers Conference 2010, which is taking place in Beirut.

Leading the RMB cross border trade settlement programme in the Mena region, Standard Chartered Bank has been extending the benefits of RMB services to several banks in the region.

By opening their RMB accounts, the banks are strategically prepared to settle their customers’ RMB invoices.

“There are many opportunities presented to banks in the region as their corporate clients can request settlement of invoices in RMB,” said Farooq Siddiqi, regional head of transaction banking Mena, Standard Chartered Bank.

“As the trade volume between China and the Mena region continues to grow significantly year on year, we feel that banks in the region should be prepared to meet the increasing RMB requirements of their corporate clients,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service