HKMA Primary Liquidity Providers: 12 Banks, RMB22bn From 27 October

ByRegReportingDesk
RegReportingDesk card: HKMA, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Hong Kong

The HKMA Primary Liquidity Providers list grows to twelve banks on 27 October 2026. In a press release dated 23 October 2026, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority designated the twelve as Primary Liquidity Providers (PLPs) for the offshore renminbi market in Hong Kong, the CNH market, for a two-year term. The same release raises the total RMB repo facility dedicated to all PLPs from RMB20 billion to RMB22 billion.

Set against the eleven banks designated in October 2024, the only new name is Deutsche Bank AG. For the twelve, PLP status means a dedicated RMB repo line from the HKMA in exchange for a market-making commitment. For other CNH participants the list matters for a second reason: the PLP designations are also relevant to offshore RMB bond repo activity. The HKMA’s 2025 arrangements appointed the eleven banks then designated as PLPs as market makers, with a same-day transaction-reporting requirement. The 23 October 2026 announcement adds Deutsche Bank AG to the PLP list but does not confirm its appointment as an offshore RMB bond repo market maker.

Related reading: HKMA D-SIB Designation 2025: Five Banks, HLA Buckets Unchanged

PLP designation dates and the twelve banks from 27 October 2026

  • 23 October 2026: the HKMA announces the designations and the larger facility.
  • 27 October 2026: the new two-year term starts, following expiry of the term that began on 27 October 2024. The release says the total dedicated RMB repo facility increases from RMB20 billion to RMB22 billion as a result of the designations and gives no separate effective date for the increase.
  • October 2028: end of the two-year term, calculated from the start date. The release states the term length and start date, not an end date.

The twelve PLPs named in the release are:

  • Agricultural Bank of China Limited
  • Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited
  • Bank of Communications Co., Ltd.
  • BNP Paribas
  • China CITIC Bank International Limited
  • China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited
  • Citibank, N.A.
  • Deutsche Bank AG
  • Hang Seng Bank, Limited
  • Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, The
  • Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited
  • Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited

Compared line by line with the October 2024 list, eleven names carry over and Deutsche Bank AG is added. The 2024 round had itself added China CITIC Bank International Limited and Hang Seng Bank, Limited to the nine banks designated in October 2022.

The 2026 release says the selection was based on a range of criteria, including the institution’s capability in providing CNH funding and making markets in CNH instruments, and its commitment to using Hong Kong as a global hub for offshore RMB business. The 2024 release also named the candidate pool: the existing PLPs and the contributing banks for the CNH HIBOR fixing. The 2026 release gives the criteria without naming a pool.

What the HKMA Primary Liquidity Providers scheme gives a designated bank

The initial seven PLP designations took effect on 27 October 2014; the HKMA announced them on 3 November 2014. The bargain has held since then. The PLPs pledged to expand their market-making in Hong Kong for CNH instruments and to use the Hong Kong platform to promote their global offshore RMB business, and the HKMA provides each PLP with a dedicated RMB repo facility to support its liquidity management. The PLP releases describe a market-making pledge and a repo line and attach no capital or buffer consequence to the status, unlike the HKMA’s D-SIB designations.

The HKMA provides a dedicated repo allocation for intraday and overnight RMB liquidity to PLPs. The HKMA’s RMB Liquidity Facility and PLP webpage says PLPs obtain intraday or overnight RMB funds under the repo facility on the same terms and conditions as the RMB Liquidity Facility. Those published terms, effective 9 October 2025, specify the following collateral, pricing and operating conditions, and the 23 October 2026 release neither restates nor changes them:

  • Collateral: Exchange Fund Bills and Notes (EFBN), HKSAR Government bonds (HKGB), onshore RMB bonds of the Ministry of Finance and the three China policy banks, and offshore RMB, USD and EUR debt securities of the Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank of China, local People’s Governments and the policy banks.
  • Haircuts: 2% per year of remaining maturity. A 2% minimum applies to the Mainland issuers’ securities, and a further 2% currency-risk haircut applies to EFBN, HKGB and the USD and EUR securities.
  • Pricing: intraday funds cost the average of the most recent three TMA overnight CNH HIBOR fixings, floored at 0% and charged per minute of actual use. Overnight funds cost the same average plus 25 basis points, with a 0.25% minimum.
  • Mechanics: intraday and overnight repos are initiated through the CMU Member Terminal (T+1 repos are requested through the HKMA dealing room), and the terms require a signed bilateral Master Sale and Repurchase Agreement with the HKMA for intraday and overnight RMB liquidity.

The conversion rule is where a cash forecast can go wrong. Intraday repo still outstanding at the end of the operating day, 5:00 am the next calendar day, converts into overnight repo at the full overnight charge, with the intraday interest waived. The converted repo has to be repaid before 2:00 pm on the next operating day. A forecast that models intraday funding on these terms as intraday-only has no branch for the day the cut-off is missed.

RMB22 billion in total, with no per-bank split in the release

Up to the 2022 round, the HKMA stated the line per bank: RMB2 billion for each PLP, RMB18 billion across nine. The 2024 and 2026 releases state only totals, RMB18 billion rising to RMB20 billion for eleven banks, then RMB20 billion rising to RMB22 billion for twelve.

Twelve lines of RMB2 billion would add up to RMB24 billion, so the old per-bank figure no longer fits the published total. The release does not say how the RMB22 billion is divided. A liquidity model or contingency funding plan that hard-codes RMB2 billion per PLP is using a per-bank figure that the HKMA’s PLP designation releases last stated in 2022.

The PLP allocation also sits apart from the general RMB Liquidity Facility pool. When the HKMA’s circular of 26 September 2025 reallocated the intraday and overnight funds from RMB20 billion each to RMB30 billion and RMB10 billion, keeping the RMB40 billion total, it said separately that the PLP scheme, then RMB20 billion in total, was unaffected. The 23 October release is silent on the RMB40 billion pool.

The HKMA says it regularly reviews the scheme’s operation and the PLPs’ performance, including the number of PLPs and the size of the repo facility. Both have now changed in two consecutive rounds.

Three HKMA RMB facilities that sit side by side

The PLP line is one of three HKMA RMB funding channels with overlapping bank populations. For a register of central bank facilities, they belong in separate rows.

Facility Who can use it Size Tenors
PLP dedicated repo facility The twelve designated PLPs (term from 27 October 2026) RMB22 billion in total (RMB20 billion before) Intraday or overnight
RMB Liquidity Facility Authorized institutions participating in RMB business with a signed Master Sale and Repurchase Agreement Intraday RMB30 billion and overnight RMB10 billion since 9 October 2025; no size stated for the T+1 tenors Intraday, overnight, and 1-day, 1-week, 2-week and 1-month on a T+1 basis
RMB Business Facility Participating banks allocated a quota, for RMB financing to corporate clients RMB500 billion since 10 July 2026 1 month to 3 years

The published RMB Liquidity Facility terms distinguish intraday and overnight repos, initiated through the CMU Member Terminal, from T+1 repos, which must be requested through the HKMA dealing room. The dedicated PLP repo allocation is separate from the general intraday and overnight facility allocations. The RMB Business Facility funds lending to corporate customers through quotas.

Market-maker status in offshore RMB bond repo, and its same-day reporting

The eleven-bank PLP list from 2024 also identifies the market makers named in the HKMA’s 2025 offshore RMB bond repo arrangements. The offshore RMB bond repo business lets Northbound Bond Connect investors use their onshore bonds as collateral for RMB repo in Hong Kong, and it launched on 10 February 2025. When announcing it in January 2025, the HKMA said that in the initial phase the 11 PLPs it had designated would serve as market makers, and that each repo transaction must involve at least one market maker as a counterparty. The July 2025 enhancement release repeated the point and named the eleven banks.

Market makers carry a reporting duty. They are required to report repo transaction data to the HKMA on the same day as the transaction, for market monitoring. The July 2025 release says the information to be reported includes the names of both trading institutions (repo party and reverse repo party), total funds borrowed by the repo party, bond name, bond code, repo term, total face value, repo rate, transaction or first settlement date, settlement amount, trading platform or means, and default-related information. In the same release, the HKMA said it would communicate further with market makers to finalise the reporting requirements and submission channels. That release therefore does not itself constitute a complete technical submission specification, and market makers should confirm the operative requirements and channels with the HKMA.

Teams that also file EU securities financing reports will recognise the field shape from our SFTR reporting guide; the HKMA duty is separate and attaches to the market-maker role.

The same July 2025 release allowed bond collateral to be re-used during the repo term from 25 August 2025, for repos settled delivery versus payment, in four cases: offshore repo transactions, collateral for the HKMA’s RMB Liquidity Facility, margin at OTC Clearing Hong Kong (see our note on Hong Kong OTC clearing calculation periods), and cash bond trading through Northbound Bond Connect. My reading is that the RMB Liquidity Facility route only helps where the re-used bond is on that facility’s eligible-collateral list, which for onshore bonds covers the Ministry of Finance and the three policy banks.

The 23 October release does not mention the bond repo business. Both 2025 releases tie the market-maker role to the 11 PLPs designated by the HKMA, and the January 2025 release described that arrangement as the initial phase. The HKMA’s 23 October 2026 PLP designation announcement does not confirm whether Deutsche Bank AG will also become an offshore RMB bond repo market maker from 27 October 2026. Its market-maker appointment and any associated same-day reporting obligations should therefore be confirmed with the HKMA.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a bank outside the twelve still draw intraday or overnight RMB from the HKMA?

Yes, if it is an authorized institution participating in RMB business that has signed a bilateral Master Sale and Repurchase Agreement with the HKMA, through the RMB Liquidity Facility. Intraday and overnight draws are initiated via the CMU Member Terminal on RMB RTGS operating days, which run from 8:30 am to 5:00 am the next calendar day, excluding Saturdays and Sundays; T+1 repos are requested through the HKMA dealing room. PLP status adds a dedicated allocation on top of that general access.

What happens if an overnight repurchase date falls on a Hong Kong holiday?

Under the RMB Liquidity Facility terms, an overnight repo whose repurchase date falls on a Hong Kong holiday rolls over to the following operating day if the bank’s account lacks sufficient funds for the repurchase.

Does PLP status affect a bank’s RMB Business Facility quota?

The cited HKMA announcements set out the PLP scheme and the RMB Business Facility separately and do not state that PLP designation automatically changes a bank’s RMB Business Facility quota. The RMB Business Facility allocates quota to participating banks for RMB financing to corporate clients under its own process. Deutsche Bank AG, for example, was already on the HKMA’s December 2025 list of RMB Business Facility participating banks before its PLP designation.

Key Takeaways

  • Counterparty and facility files: load the twelve-bank PLP list with effect from 27 October 2026 and close the eleven-bank list from the 2024 term.
  • Facility registers: record the PLP line at RMB22 billion in total and leave the per-bank amount blank until a published source states one.
  • Cash forecasts on the general facility terms: an intraday balance still open at 5:00 am becomes overnight repo, repayable before 2:00 pm on the next operating day.
  • Collateral planning: the RMB Liquidity Facility eligible-collateral list applies to the general facility, and, on my reading, also decides which re-used offshore repo bonds that facility accepts.
  • Deutsche Bank AG: the 23 October PLP announcement does not establish offshore RMB bond repo market-maker status or associated same-day reporting obligations.

Sources and References

  • HKMA press release, “HKMA designates Primary Liquidity Providers and expands Scheme” (23 October 2026): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA press release, “HKMA designates Primary Liquidity Providers and expands Scheme” (25 October 2024): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA press release, “HKMA Designates Nine CNH Primary Liquidity Providers” (26 October 2022): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA press release, “HKMA Designates Seven CNH Primary Liquidity Providers” (3 November 2014): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA press release, “Designation of Domestic Systemically Important Authorized Institutions” (31 December 2025): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA, RMB Liquidity Facilities webpage, sections on the RMB Liquidity Facility and Primary Liquidity Providers (last revision date 9 July 2026 when checked on 24 October 2026): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA circular to all authorized institutions, “Enhancement of the Renminbi (RMB) Liquidity Facility” (26 September 2025): brdr.hkma.gov.hk (PDF)
  • HKMA, RMB Liquidity Facility Terms and Conditions (effective 9 October 2025): hkma.gov.hk (PDF)
  • HKMA press release, “Arrangement for Offshore RMB Bond Repurchase Business Using Bonds Held under Northbound Bond Connect as Collateral announced by HKMA” (13 January 2025): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA press release, “Enhancement Arrangements for the Offshore RMB Bond Repurchase Business announced by HKMA” (8 July 2025): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA press release, “New Measures to Support the Development of Hong Kong’s Fixed Income and Currency Market and Offshore RMB Business” (7 July 2026): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA press release, “HKMA RMB Business Facility doubles to RMB200 billion in size” (26 January 2026): hkma.gov.hk
  • HKMA, list of participating banks for the RMB Business Facility from Phase 2 onwards (29 December 2025): hkma.gov.hk (PDF)
  • Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/356 on the details of securities financing transactions to be reported to trade repositories (SFTR reporting RTS), Annex Tables 1 and 2: eur-lex.europa.eu

Before 27 October: the PLP line, the reference documents and the market-maker question

The 23 October 2026 announcement changes the PLP designation count and aggregate repo allocation but does not publish revised bilateral repo terms or individual bank allocations. The 2025 offshore RMB bond repo releases refer to eleven market makers, whereas the new PLP designation covers twelve banks from 27 October 2026. Procedures should preserve that distinction and confirm any changes to individual facility terms directly with the HKMA. For Deutsche Bank AG’s Hong Kong teams, the designation takes effect on 27 October 2026, and the item to settle with the HKMA is whether market-maker status in offshore RMB bond repo, with its same-day transaction reporting, comes with it.

Disclaimer: The information on RegReportingDesk.com is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, tax, or compliance advice. Always consult your compliance officer, legal counsel, or the relevant supervisory authority for guidance specific to your institution.

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