BNP Paribas receives Type A Corporate Bond Lead Underwriting License for onshore corporate bonds issued by Chinese domestic companies

BNP Paribas today announced that BNP Paribas China Limited is one of the first two foreign banks that has been awarded the Type A Corporate Bond Lead Underwriting License from China’s National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII).  

The official announcement of China’s Relevant Measures for Further Opening Up Financial Sector released in July permitted foreign banks to apply for a Type A license, which allows them to lead underwrite onshore corporate bonds issued by Chinese domestic companies. Previously BNP Paribas was one of the only 3 foreign banks awarded a Type B license, enabling the bank to lead underwrite the corporate bond issuance by foreign companies outside China.

CG Lai, CEO of BNP Paribas China, said: “We are pleased to be awarded this license in recognition of our work to develop and deepen foreign expertise in Chinese capital markets.  We have been active in building the Chinese franchise for both local and multinational subsidiaries in China over the past few years and look forward to utilising this new license to offer more solutions for our onshore clients.”

In December of 2018, BNP Paribas China Limited received the Type B Corporate Panda Bond Lead Underwriting License. Since then, the bank has been successfully helping foreign corporate issuers to tap into China’s growing onshore CIBM bond market. BNP Paribas is the only foreign-invested bank that holds both the Type A and Type B licenses.

BNP Paribas’ presence in China dates back to 1860 when it opened its first office in Shanghai. Today, with nearly 500 staff based in China, BNP Paribas provides banking, financing and advisory services via its Corporate & Institutional Banking and international financial services.