Latest news with #PBOC
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
10 years to the day, China's big yuan devaluation set off shock waves – what has changed?
In the decade since China shocked the world with a surprise devaluation of the yuan, the nation's exchange-rate regime has steadily shifted towards market-based – yet still managed – pricing, and analysts say the era of burning through massive reserves to defend the currency is firmly in the rear-view mirror. Armed with lessons from the past, Beijing now employs a wider arsenal of tools to manage volatility, they added, with the key challenge for the coming decade being whether the yuan can open the door wider to market pricing and secure a larger international role – without destabilising swings. 'Ten years ago, faced with intense yuan-depreciation pressure, the central bank relied on its foreign reserves, depleting nearly US$1 trillion to support the currency – a situation unlikely to recur today,' said Ding Shuang, chief Greater China economist at Standard Chartered Bank. 'Since then, Beijing's toolkit for managing the exchange rate has become far more diverse, reducing reliance on direct reserve use and helping keep foreign reserves relatively stable.' On August 11, 2015 , China shocked global markets with its largest one-day cut to the yuan's reference rate, sending the currency tumbling nearly 2 per cent – a move the People's Bank of China (PBOC) described as 'enhancing the market-based and benchmark nature of the yuan's fixing against the US dollar'. The reform helped pave the way for the yuan's inclusion in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) reserve currency basket, while also triggering capital flight and sharp volatility, with China's foreign exchange reserves dropping from nearly US$4 trillion in 2014 to about US$3.2 trillion by 2017.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
China tells brokers to halt endorsements of stablecoin, sources say
Aug 8 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have asked big local brokers to halt publication of research endorsing stablecoins in a bid to curb a surge in interest in the digital currency among domestic investors, two sources familiar with the matter said. While crypto trading is banned in mainland China, brokerages have received a wave of requests for information on stablecoin and digital assets from Chinese investors since Hong Kong passed a stablecoin bill in May, sources at the brokerages say. Some major brokerages received guidance from market regulators in late July and earlier this month pushing them to discontinue publishing research notes and making public comments on stablecoins, the sources said. The People's Bank of China said it had no immediate comment on the matter, while the China Securities Regulatory Commission did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Bloomberg first reported the news. Some think-tanks have also received guidance from financial regulators that they should cancel stablecoin-related seminars, its report said. Chinese policymakers have been more openly talking about stablecoins in the past few months, with PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng saying in June the boom in digital currencies and stablecoins poses huge challenges to financial regulation. A Shanghai regulator held a meeting last month for local government officials to consider strategic responses to the rise of stablecoins and digital currency - a sign of a potential shift in tone from China over crypto assets. But the post on the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission's official WeChat account giving details of the meeting is no longer available. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value. They are usually pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar, and are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
China tells brokers to stop endorsing stablecoins in bid to avoid instability, Bloomberg News reports
Aug 8 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have asked local brokers and other bodies to stop research publication and seminars to endorse stablecoins in a bid to check the asset class and avoid instability, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Some brokerages and think tanks received guidance from market regulators in late July and earlier this month, pushing them to cancel seminars and discontinue dissemination of research on stablecoins, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Regulators are also concerned that stablecoins could be exploited as a new tool for fraudulent activities in mainland China, the Bloomberg report said. China Securities Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value and are usually pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar and are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. While China's 2021 ban on cryptocurrency remains in effect on the mainland, Hong Kong passed a stablecoin bill earlier this year to boost its status as a global digital asset hub.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
China tells brokers to stop endorsing stablecoins in bid to avoid instability, Bloomberg News reports
(Reuters) -Chinese regulators have asked local brokers and other bodies to stop research publication and seminars to endorse stablecoins in a bid to check the asset class and avoid instability, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Some brokerages and think tanks received guidance from market regulators in late July and earlier this month, pushing them to cancel seminars and discontinue dissemination of research on stablecoins, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Regulators are also concerned that stablecoins could be exploited as a new tool for fraudulent activities in mainland China, the Bloomberg report said. China Securities Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value and are usually pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar and are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. While China's 2021 ban on cryptocurrency remains in effect on the mainland, Hong Kong passed a stablecoin bill earlier this year to boost its status as a global digital asset hub. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
China tells brokers to stop touting stablecoins to cool frenzy: sources
[BEIJING] China told local brokers and other bodies to stop publishing research or hold seminars to promote stablecoins, seeking to rein in the asset class to avoid instability. Some leading brokerages and think tanks in late July and earlier this month received guidance from financial regulators, urging them to cancel seminars and halt disseminating research on stablecoins, people familiar with the matter said. Regulators are also concerned that stablecoins could be exploited as a new tool for fraudulent activities in mainland China, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. While China has a blanket ban on crypto-related transactions, recent official comments have stoked speculation the country is warming to the industry. Authorities have also given the green light to develop Hong Kong as a digital asset hub and the city this month rolled out new legislation governing stablecoin issuers, prompting a surge in interest from mainland Chinese firms. The China Securities Regulatory Commission and The People's Bank of China (PBOC) did not immediately respond to faxed requests for comments. 'Chinese policymakers don't favour too much fanfare in some topics just to avoid a herd rush to any particular asset class,' said Christopher Wong, a Singapore based currency strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. 'There's still a worry that not everyone knows adequately about crypto and policymakers being pragmatic don't want herd mentality when investors buy into something that they do not know what the risks are.' BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Despite China's crypto ban, there has been brisk over-the-counter digital asset trading in the country. It reached US$75 billion in the first nine months of 2024, according to estimates from Chainalysis, in evidence of a large presence of avenues for such transactions. Illicit fundraising activities linked to virtual currencies and stablecoins have also flourished amid the hype, prompting China's local authorities including those in Beijing, Suzhou and Zhejiang province to issue risk warnings in the past month. Stablecoins, typically backed by cash-like assets and issued by private firms, are gaining traction as a faster, cheaper option for cross-border payments. Most are pegged to the US dollar and backed by US assets like short-term Treasuries, with the world's total supply projected to reach as much as US$3.7 trillion by 2030. The regulators are stepping in after recent official comments stoked speculation the country is warming to the notion of cyptocurrencies that track the yuan, as it seeks to challenge the US dollar's dominance in global finance and promote the usage of the Chinese currency. PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng said in June that stablecoins could revolutionise international finance, particularly as rising geopolitical tensions highlight the fragility of traditional payment systems. Hong Kong, widely viewed as a regulatory sandbox for China, is one of a number of markets in the Asia-Pacific region to have pushed forward with a licensing regime of its own in recent months. As of Friday, Hong Kong has granted licence for 11 crypto exchanges, alongside 44 companies with permit to trade digital assets for clients. These include Chinese state-backed firms such as CMB International Securities, Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) and TFI Securities and Futures. US President Donald Trump on Jul 18 signed the first federal bill to regulate stablecoins, hailing it as 'giant step to cement American dominance of global finance and crypto technology.' The vast majority of stablecoins in circulation today are pegged to the US dollar. BLOOMBERG
