China has unveiled 11 measures to open up the country's financial sector and scrap foreign shareholding caps in most financial sectors in a bid to bolster and stabilize growth.
Following on the success of the Stock Connect program, China and the U.K. are now planning a Bond Connect scheme; China eases immigration rules to attract more foreign talents; and Ping An’s Lufax platform is rumored to be quitting P2P lending.
The CBIRC will tighten regulations on China’s cash management products; increased government oversight of Chinese schooling has hit the share price of several Hong Kong-listed tutoring companies; and China’s State Council plans to adopt more fiscal, and tax- and tariff-reduction measures to maintain stability in its international trade.
New court interpretations and a series of court cases with stiff sentences reflect Chinese authorities' determination to bring insider trading to heel.
In a landmark case, an ex-UBS banker was jailed for nine years for cross-border insider trading; the China-Japan ETF Connectivity scheme was launched with four index-tracking ETFs; and the CSRC is considering lifting profitability rules on listed company M&A activities.
The Shanghai and London stock exchanges’ connect program has finally launched; new rules have been introduced to limit speculative trading of stocks on China’s new technology and innovation board; and the CSRC has urged major brokerages in the China to help smaller operations in the country's non-banking financial sector.
Alibaba files for Hong Kong listing that could raise $20 billion; China's state planner will encourage more debt-to-equity swaps; insurers likely to be allowed to up investments in Chinese A-shares; and official proposes beefing up penalties for IP violations.
