By Saikat Chatterjee HONG KONG, May 2 (Reuters) - Latest reforms in the offshoreyuan markets will help banks overcome periodic shortages of cashand signals a new pipeline of products in a market that hasstagnated in recent quarters. In a series of steps last Thursday, the Hong Kong MonetaryAuthority, the city's de-facto central bank, removed tradinglimits and dismantled mandatory reserve requirements for bankstrading the offshore yuan. The measures taken were essentially two-pronged in approach:to help investors manage their interest rate exposure on theback of a growing bond market and offer banks more yuan funds toboost their trade settlement business.Even as the yuan hits a series of record highs guided by thePeople's Bank of China, doubts are rising on how far thecurrency can go with valuations already near the top end ofhistoric ranges. RECENT STORIES:CNH Tracker-A death knell for the yuan non-deliverable market? Hong Kong creates reference rate for offshore yuan markets Chinese strong talk on yuan reform masks policy quandary More stories about the CNH market Daily onshore yuan reports Daily China money market reports Offshore yuan rate Onshore yuan rate Offshore yuan dealt Onshore yuan on CFETS THOMSON REUTERS SPEED GUIDES