KUALA LUMPUR: Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) received a letter of commendation from the People's Bank of China (PBoC) last month in recognition of the bank's efforts and thought-leadership in the development of the yuan (renminbi or RMB) cross-border trade settlement scheme.

In a statement today, Standard Chartered Bank said it became the first international bank to conduct end-to-end cross-border RMB trade settlement transactions less than two months after China issued the rules for participation in the pilot scheme in July 2009.

The bank said it was holding its inaugural RMB Asean roadshow with the Chinese government. Kicking off in Malaysia, this sees for the first time the participation of Chinese government officials partnering with an international bank on a roadshow.

"Standard Chartered Bank provides our clients with seamless product capabilities to leverage the RMB cross-border trade settlement scheme, and access the growing China and Malaysia trade corridor of some RM180 billion," said Nirukt Sapru, managing director, origination and client coverage Malaysia, wholesale banking.