China to Launch Interest Rate Swap Connect May 15

A long-expected program to allow mutual access to interest rate swap markets between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong will start May 15 in another step to widen overseas investors’ access to Chinese financial markets.

Starting with a northbound channel, the program will give Hong Kong and international investors access to the mainland’s interbank financial derivatives market through a connection between financial infrastructure institutions in Hong Kong and the mainland, according to a joint statement by the People’s Bank of China, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission.