Renminbi market makers set

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange named HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank as market makers for its Chinese renminbi (yuan) futures contract, which began trading Aug. 28. The market makers will be responsible for providing an orderly market.

“HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank have a longstanding presence in China and play unique and important roles in Asian financial markets,” says C.F. Wong, CME managing director for products and services, Asia. Renminbi futures and options against the U.S. dollar (RMB), euro (RME), and Japanese yen (RMY) will be traded electronically on the CME’s Globex system. The dollar denominated contract will be worth one million renminbi, and a one-point move (a 0.00001-point move in the renminbi) will be worth $10.

The contract will always be listed for 13 consecutive months, plus two deferred quarterly cycles.

The launch of the renminbi is a continuation of the CME’s push into Asia and Asian products. Earlier in the year, the CME began trading E-Mini EAFE (Europe, Australia, and Far East) futures and S&P Asia 50 futures. Korean Won futures will begin trading Sept. 17. The Won futures mark the 19th foreign currency future tradable against the U.S. dollar. The CME also offers 19 cross-rate futures, futures on the U.S. dollar index, and E-Mini contracts on the euro FX and Japanese yen.