Citibank has announced it will introduce a new forex option service aimed at individual investors on the Chinese mainland. The move has been given the green light by the People's Bank of China.
This is the first time such a service has been introduced by foreign banks operating in the country. It may signal that the banking authority of China has started a new round of banking deregulation.
Citibank says that the service has been introduced to other parts of the Asia-pacific region years before, and its flexibility has been well received on the overseas market. Hence the decision to launch it in China, where individual customers' finances are basically unexplored.
Individuals opening a foreign currency deposit in the bank will automatically get a forex trading option at the same time, which is something new for depositors in the country.
(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2003)
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