In the news: CSRC restarts IPOs, China cracks $64 billion underground bank and ranks top for clean energy investment
November 25, 2015 | BY
Katherine Jo &clp articles &This week the CSRC approved the Shenzhen and Shanghai listings of 10 companies, authorities busted the country's largest underground bank and a study ranked China as the top emerging market for clean energy investment
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved five listings each on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. The 10 companies had already been given the go-ahead before the IPO freeze in July. The CSRC announced it would resume IPOs and released new rules that no longer require investors to deposit funds when applying for new share subscriptions and reduce the amount of cash that bidders need for IPOs. This restarting of IPOs – after a 5-month freeze – will test the government's goal of avoiding another stock market bubble. It will also draw money away from bonds – and possibly real estate – and instill hope for the glory days of the year through mid-June 2015. Participants would do well, however, to remember that equities markets can and do crash, even in China.
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Authorities said they have cracked the country's largest “underground bank,” which handled Rmb410 billion ($64 billion) of illegal foreign exchange transactions. More than 370 people were arrested or face lawsuits and other punishment in eastern Zhejiang province. This brought the total for underground banking and money laundering activities to Rmb800 billion since April, said the People's Daily. The move comes as China struggles to control capital outflows amid currency depreciation speculations. The Zhejiang case exploited capital control loopholes in regulations for non-resident accounts by directly transferring renminbi abroad and exchanging the money into foreign currencies at banks, then transferring it to clients' books. People have found other creative means of bypassing China's currency controls, such as by carrying checks from underground banks to Hong Kong, smuggling cash through customs, making transfers using Hong Kong money changers and paying for goods overseas using credit cards and returning them for cash.
More from CLP:
China continued to hold the top position as the best emerging market in which to invest in clean energy, according to a study by Climatescope. It scored highest for a second consecutive year in an analysis of 55 developing nations that mapped progress in spending, capacity deployment and policy development. Brazil and Chile followed China in the rankings. China added 35GW of new renewable power generating capacity and attracted $89 billion in all types of new clean energy capital in 2014, said the report. With the ramped up enforcement of the Environmental Protection Law and changes in regulations to encourage foreign investment in green sectors, the potential is massive. President Xi Jinping has been pushing efforts to clean China's air and rivers, relocating smokestack plants away from urban centres like Beijing and cracking down on polluting companies. With the changes will come increased spending, and increased profits.
More from CLP:
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved five listings each on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. The 10 companies had already been given the go-ahead before the IPO freeze in July. The CSRC announced it would resume IPOs and released new rules that no longer require investors to deposit funds when applying for new share subscriptions and reduce the amount of cash that bidders need for IPOs. This restarting of IPOs – after a 5-month freeze – will test the government's goal of avoiding another stock market bubble. It will also draw money away from bonds – and possibly real estate – and instill hope for the glory days of the year through mid-June 2015. Participants would do well, however, to remember that equities markets can and do crash, even in China.
More from CLP:
Authorities said they have cracked the country's largest “underground bank,” which handled Rmb410 billion ($64 billion) of illegal foreign exchange transactions. More than 370 people were arrested or face lawsuits and other punishment in eastern Zhejiang province. This brought the total for underground banking and money laundering activities to Rmb800 billion since April, said the People's Daily. The move comes as China struggles to control capital outflows amid currency depreciation speculations. The Zhejiang case exploited capital control loopholes in regulations for non-resident accounts by directly transferring renminbi abroad and exchanging the money into foreign currencies at banks, then transferring it to clients' books. People have found other creative means of bypassing China's currency controls, such as by carrying checks from underground banks to Hong Kong, smuggling cash through customs, making transfers using Hong Kong money changers and paying for goods overseas using credit cards and returning them for cash.
More from CLP:
China continued to hold the top position as the best emerging market in which to invest in clean energy, according to a study by Climatescope. It scored highest for a second consecutive year in an analysis of 55 developing nations that mapped progress in spending, capacity deployment and policy development. Brazil and Chile followed China in the rankings. China added 35GW of new renewable power generating capacity and attracted $89 billion in all types of new clean energy capital in 2014, said the report. With the ramped up enforcement of the Environmental Protection Law and changes in regulations to encourage foreign investment in green sectors, the potential is massive. President Xi Jinping has been pushing efforts to clean China's air and rivers, relocating smokestack plants away from urban centres like Beijing and cracking down on polluting companies. With the changes will come increased spending, and increased profits.
More from CLP:
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