Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx): Offshore Clearing Corporation in Hong Kong will start accepting onshore government bonds and policy financial bonds as collateral for swaps from January 13, 2025.

On December 16th, HKEX announced that its Hong Kong Offshore Clearing Company will begin accepting onshore government bonds and policy financial bonds held in the Bond Connect program as collateral for the "Northbound Bond Connect" from January 13th, 2025. The addition of eligible collateral can be used to pay the initial margin for "Northbound Bond Connect" transactions, providing international investors with greater flexibility and improving their capital efficiency. This optimization measure will also help further attract international investors to hold bonds in the Bank of China's bond market, promoting RMB internationalization. As an interconnected mechanism connecting the Hong Kong and Mainland interbank interest rate swap market, the Bond Connect has operated smoothly since its launch in May 2023, with stable growth in trading volume, adding vitality to the financial markets in both regions. HKEX stated that as of the end of November 2024, a total of 71 foreign institutions have participated in the "Northbound Bond Connect." In November 2024, the average daily trading volume of the Bond Connect reached 18.2 billion RMB, a significant increase from around 3 billion RMB in May 2023.