Weighing up renminbi prospects

Listening to Bob Diamond extol the virtues of London as the next offshore centre for renminbi trading at a media event this month, it was hard to judge how passionate the Barclays chief executive really was about the currency, or whether he was just relieved at the opportunity to speak about something other than his controversial bonus package. Certainly his aggravated expression when confronted with bonus-related questions en route to the elevator would suggest the latter.

But the appearance of