(Yicai Global) March 29 -- Shanghai Clearing House, the only centralized clearing agency in China’s interbank market and one of the country’s three largest bond issuance registration, custody and settlement institutions, is continuing business as usual despite a two-phase city-wide lockdown to halt a spike in Covid-19 cases that started yesterday.

Shanghai Clearing House immediately sent staff to the office when news broke on Sunday, March 27 that the city would implement a nine-day phased lockdown to ensure the smooth start of business on Monday, a company insider told Yicai Global. As a result, all corporate bond, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity trading businesses went smoothly. The Shanghai Stock Exchange also opened as usual.

The house is in close communication with several Chinese and foreign banks in locked-down parts of the city, such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, MUFG Bank and Citi Bank, to better understand their business needs, and is working closely with related participants and fund providers to ensure the stable operation of the markets.

Since the start of the latest outbreak at the beginning of the month, the clearing house has appointed two employees for every position, who combine working in the office and from home. All key posts are on call 24 hours a day.

With the latest restrictions, the clearing house’s staff have already formulated emergency plans to ensure the stable operation of the capital markets, including custody bond issuance, foreign exchange central counterparty clearing and interconnection with the Hong Kong bond market, and they continue to monitor potential risks.

Established in 2009, Shanghai Clearing House completed CNY200 trillion (USD31.4 trillion) of clearing services in the first half of 2021, with a custody bond scale of CNY26.4 trillion (USD4.1 trillion).

Editor: Kim Taylor