About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Bloomberg Plans Addition of Chinese Securities to Global Aggregate Indices

Subscribe to our newsletter

Bloomberg intends to add Chinese RMB-denominated government and policy bank securities to the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index. The addition of the securities will be phased in over a 20-month period starting in April 2019 and subject to planned operational enhancements being implemented by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and Ministry of Finance.

When fully accounted for in the Global Aggregate Index, local currency Chinese bonds will be the fourth largest currency component following the US dollar, euro and Japanese yen. Using data as of January 31, 2018, the index would include 386 Chinese securities and represent 5.49% of a $53.73 trillion index.

Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg and chair of the working g on US RMB trading and clearing, says: “This announcement recognises China’s continued efforts over recent years to enhance access to the world’s third-largest bond market. It is a testament to China’s commitment to financial reform and the pace of change in its bond market. It is also another step towards for China’s integration with global financial markets.”

In order to be considered for inclusion in the Global Aggregate Index, a local currency debt market must be classified as investment grade and its currency must be freely tradable, convertible, hedgeable, and free of capital controls. Ongoing enhancements by the PBoC have resulted in RMB-denominated securities meeting these absolute index rules.

Additional enhancements are required prior to the planned inclusion date to increase investor confidence and improve market accessibility. Among these are: the implementation of delivery versus payment settlement; ability to allocate block trades across portfolios; and clarification on tax collection policies. Should progress on these enhancements be delayed, China’s inclusion in the Global Aggregate Index and other Bloomberg Barclays Indices may also be delayed.

In addition to the Global Aggregate Index, Chinese RMB-denominated debt will be eligible for inclusion in the Bloomberg Barclays Global Treasury and EM Local Currency Government Indices starting April 2019. Bloomberg will also create ex-China versions of the indices for index users that want to track benchmarks that exclude China. The company will also create customised capped versions of the indices for investors looking to limit exposure to China.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Upcoming Webinar: High-Performance Networks & Low-Latency Connectivity for Trading

10 June 2025 10:00am ET | 3:00pm London | 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 Minutes With financial markets becoming more complex and interconnected in today’s electronic trading environment, trading firms, exchanges, and infrastructure providers need to continually push the boundaries of network performance to stay ahead. Ultra-low latency, seamless connectivity, and resilient infrastructure are no longer...

BLOG

A-Team Group Announces Winners of its TradingTech Insight Awards Europe 2025

A-Team Group has revealed the winners of the TradingTech Insight Awards Europe 2025. These prestigious awards celebrate excellence in trading solutions and services, highlighting vendors who provide outstanding trading infrastructure, technology, and data solutions to capital markets participants across Europe. This year, the awards featured over 40 categories of trading technology solutions and services. These...

EVENT

AI in Capital Markets Summit New York

The AI in Capital Markets Summit will explore current and emerging trends in AI, the potential of Generative AI and LLMs and how AI can be applied for efficiencies and business value across a number of use cases, in the front and back office of financial institutions. The agenda will explore the risks and challenges of adopting AI and the foundational technologies and data management capabilities that underpin successful deployment.

GUIDE

Regulation and Risk as Data Management Drivers

A-Team Group recently held a webinar on the topic of Regulation and Risk as Data Management Drivers. Fill in the form to get immediate access to the accompanying Special Report. Alongside death and taxes, perhaps the only other certainty in life is that regulation of the financial markets will increase in future years. How do...