LONDON - Bank of China Ltd London Branch becomes the first Chinese PPS (Protected Payments System) Bank of LCH.Clearnet Ltd.

According to Bank of China, the bank will be able to start providing PPS services in both Britain and the United States, offering post-trade settlement services to LCH.Clearnet's existing clearing members across a wide range of asset classes of securities (including FX, interest rate swaps, bond repurchase agreements and derivatives, etc) in 18 currencies.

Bank of China will be able to start offering PPS services following completion of the necessary end-to-end testing.

Martin Pluves, CEO, LCH.Clearnet Ltd said: "We are pleased to be working with Bank of China to broaden the choice of PPS banks available to our clearing members."

LCH.Clearnet Ltd is a global, multi-asset clearing house, serving a broad number of major exchanges and platforms as well as a range of OTC markets. It is majority owned by the London Stock Exchange Group, with the remainder being owned by its users (i.e. clearing members) and other exchanges.

Bank of China has established a close and cooperative relationship with the London Stock Exchange Group. In June 2014, the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for strategic collaboration.