The People’s Bank of China (PBC) Shanghai Head Office; all regional branches and operations offices of the People's Bank of China; all central sub-branches of the People's Bank of China in capital cities of provinces (autonomous regions) and sub-provincial cities; China Development Bank; all policy banks, state-owned commercial banks and joint-stock commercial banks; and Postal Savings Bank of China:
The Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks of Overseas Institutions (hereinafter referred to as the Measures) are hereby issued to you, and you are notified of the relevant matters as follows:
I. Where an overseas central bank (monetary authority) needs to open a RMB current account in a domestic commercial bank for the purpose of currency swap, etc., it shall be governed by other relevant provisions of the People's Bank of China.
Where an overseas bank needs to open a RMB nostro account in a domestic commercial bank for the purpose of providing clearing or settlement services, it shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures for the Administration of Pilot RMB Settlement in Cross-border Trade (No.212 [2009] of the People's Bank of China).
Where a qualified foreign institutional investor needs to open a RMB special account for the purpose of securities investment within China, it shall be governed by Article 20 of the Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks (Order No.5 [2003] of the People's Bank of China) and Article 5 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks (No.16 [2005] of the People's Bank of China).
Where an overseas central bank or monetary authority, a RMB business clearing bank in Hong Kong or Macau, an overseas bank participating in the RMB settlement in cross-border trade or any other institution needs to open an account for the RMB funds invested in the inter-bank bond market, it shall be governed by the relevant provisions of the People's Bank of China on the pilot investment of overseas institutions in the inter-bank bond market.
II. From the date of issuance of this Notice, except the aforesaid four kinds of RMB current accounts, an overseas institution shall open a RMB current account within China in accordance with the Measures.
Where an overseas institution has opened a RMB current account within China according to the relevant provisions of the People's Bank of China before the issuance of this Notice, this account need not be modified or cancelled.
III. All domestic banks shall, in accordance with these Measures, formulate the detailed rules or operating guidelines for overseas institutions to open RMB current accounts, and report them to the People's Bank of China.
IV. The PBC Shanghai Head Office; all branches and business management departments of the People's Bank of China; and all central sub-branches of the People's Bank of China in capital cities of provinces (autonomous regions) shall forward this Notice to the banking financial institutions within their respective jurisdictions, and ensure the effective implementation of these Measures.
Please report the problems encountered during implementation to the Head Office of the People's Bank of China in a timely manner.
Contact person: Yang Qing Tel: 010-66194067
Annex: Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks of Overseas Institutions
The People's Bank of China
August 31, 2010
Annex
Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks of Overseas Institutions
Article 1 To regulate overseas institutions' opening and use of RMB current accounts, strengthen the administration of current accounts, and maintain the stability of the economic and financial order, these Measures are formulated in accordance with the Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks (Order No.5 [2003] of the People's Bank of China) and other provisions.
Article 2 These measures shall apply to the RMB current accounts opened by overseas institutions in domestic banking financial institutions of China (hereinafter referred to as the current accounts), except the RMB current accounts opened by overseas central banks (monetary authorities) in domestic banking financial institutions, inter-bank current accounts opened by overseas commercial banks in domestic banking financial institutions for the purpose of providing clearing or settlement services, RMB special accounts opened by qualified foreign institutional investors for the purpose of lawful securities investment in China and RMB special accounts opened by overseas institutions for the RMB funds invested in the inter-bank bond market in China.
Article 3 The term overseas institutions as mentioned in these Measures refers to the institutions legally formed and registered abroad (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions). The term domestic banking financial institutions (hereinafter referred to as the banks) refers to the domestic Chinese- and foreign-funded banks that are legally qualified for conducting domestic and overseas settlement and other businesses.
Article 4 To legally handle RMB fund receipt and payment, an overseas institution may apply for opening a current account in a bank for carrying out various cross-border RMB businesses according to law.
Article 5 The People's Bank of China is the regulatory department of current accounts, responsible for supervising and administering the opening, use, modification and cancellation of current accounts.
Article 6 A bank shall effectively distinguish between and separately manage the domestic and foreign currency accounts of overseas institutions, as well as the current accounts of overseas institutions and domestic institutions. When assigning an account number to a RMB current account of an overseas institution, a bank shall uniformly add a prefix “NRA” before the account number.
Article 7 A bank shall strictly implement the anti-money laundering provisions, and strengthen supervision over the capital flows of current accounts of overseas institutions.
Article 8 An overseas institution shall, when applying to a bank for opening a current account, fill out an application form for opening an account, and provide certificates proving that it is an institution legally formed and registered overseas, the regulations and rules or the approval documents of the competent government department based on which it carries out the relevant activities in China, and other materials for opening an account. Where the certificates and other materials for opening an account are not made in Chinese, the corresponding Chinese versions shall be provided at the same time.
The bank shall examine the authenticity and legality of the identity of the overseas institution and the materials provided by it for opening an account.
Article 9 An overseas institution meeting the conditions for opening a current account may choose any bank within China to open a current account. The bank shall submit the corresponding materials and application form for opening an account to the local branch office of the People's Bank of China, produce a certificate on identity eligibility of the overseas institution upon examination, and conduct the formalities for opening a basic deposit account for the overseas institution with the approval of the local branch office of the People's Bank of China upon verification.
Article 10 The branch office of the People's Bank of China shall, within two working days, verify the certificate on identity eligibility of the overseas institution submitted by a bank, and issue a permit for opening a basic deposit account for an overseas institution meeting the conditions for opening an account.
Article 11 The account name of a current account opened by an overseas institution shall be the full Chinese or English name of the overseas institution, exactly the same with the name recorded on the certificate proving that it is an institution legally formed and registered overseas (or the corresponding Chinese version), and an overseas institution shall have a sole full Chinese (or English) name.
Article 12 Where an overseas institution, which has applied for and obtained a special institution code according to the relevant provisions of the foreign exchange administrative department of the state, applies for opening a current account, its special institution code shall be entered into the RMB Current Account Management System. Where an overseas institution applies for and obtained a special institution code after opening an account, the bank shall make a timely application to the local branch office of the People's Bank of China for conducting the account information modification formalities for the overseas institution.
Article 13 An overseas institution opening a current account shall provide specimen signature and seals to the bank, which shall be the official seal or special seal for financial use of the overseas institution and the signature and seal of the person authorized to sign on the account or if there is no official seal or special seal for financial use, may be the signature and seal of the person authorized to sign on the account.
Article 14 The current account of an overseas institution shall not be used for any cash business, except with the approval of the People's Bank of China when it is really necessary.
The funds in the current account of an overseas institution shall not be exchanged for any foreign currency for use, except as otherwise expressly provided for.
Article 15 A bank shall, according to the relevant provisions, submit the information on the opening, modification and cancellation of current accounts of overseas institutions as well as the fund settlement, receipt and payment therein to the Cross-border RMB Receipt and Payment Information Management System.
Article 16 The modification of the current account of an overseas institution shall be governed analogously by the relevant provisions of the Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks and the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks (No.16 [2005] of the People's Bank of China).
Article 17 Under any of the following circumstances, an overseas institution shall go through the account cancellation formalities in a timely manner:
1. The regulations and rules or the approval documents of the competent government department based on which the overseas institution carries out the relevant activities, as submitted by the overseas institution at the time of opening the account, provide for a term of validity, and the term of validity expires;
2. The competent government department prohibits the overseas institution from continuing carrying out the relevant activities in China;
3. The legal entity status of the overseas institution is extinguished under the law of the home country or region of the overseas institution; or
4. The current account shall be otherwise cancelled.
Where an overseas institution fails to go through the account cancellation formalities in a timely manner, the bank shall give a notice to it, requiring it to go through the account cancellation formalities within 30 days from the date of issuance of the notice; and if it fails to do so within the time limit, it shall be deemed to have voluntarily cancelled the account, and the funds not transferred out of the account shall be managed as funds in a dormant account.
Article 18 A bank shall designate persons in charge of examining and managing the opening, use, modification and cancellation of current accounts of overseas institutions to examine the depositors' application materials for opening accounts, submit in a timely manner the information on the depositors' opening and cancellation of accounts according to the provisions of these Measures, establish a sound account opening and cancellation registration system and the management archives of current accounts of overseas institutions, and manage the archives separately as accounting archives.
Article 19 A bank shall conduct annual inspection of the existing current accounts of overseas institutions.
Article 20 Matters not included in these Measures shall be governed by the Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks, the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures for the Administration of RMB Current Accounts with Banks and other relevant provisions.
Article 21 These Measures shall come into force on October 1, 2010, and the rights to interpret and amend these Measures shall remain with the People's Bank of China.
