10.04.201302:36:21UTC+00HSBC acquires China authorization for direct yuan trading

HSBC announced it had won authorization from the central bank of China to be among the first market makers for direct trading of the Renminbi and Australian dollar in the country's interbank foreign-exchange market.

China and Australia this week come up an agreement to grant each other's currencies to be directly converted from Wednesday. Australia is the third country, after the U.S. and Japan, to secure such an arrangement with Beijing.

The People's Bank of China has already approved licenses for Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) and Australia & New Zealand Bank (ANZ.AU) to act as market makers for direct trading of the currencies.