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Banking & Finance Business Practice Investment

Foreign banks step up scrutiny when lending to China's SOEs

Slowing growth and the move towards a market-driven economy have led some foreign banks to adopt stricter measures when lending to China’s state-owned enterprises by differentiating between SOEs receiving various levels of government support and demanding more collateral, Reuters reported, citing bank policy announcements. The demand for collateral is part of a wider trend, with approximately 70% of […]

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Banking & Finance Law & Regulation

PBoC cuts interest rates for some short-term lending

China’s central bank has lowered the interest rates it charges commercial lenders using a special short-term lending tool from 5% to 4.5% for overnight interest and from 7% to 5.5% for its seven-day rate, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing two unnamed sources. The move to lower borrowing costs for businesses comes only days after […]

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Banking & Finance Investment Law & Regulation

Asset-backed bond sales in China skyrocket

Sales of asset-backed bonds in China are up 147% over the same period last year, Bloomberg reported, citing data it had compiled. Having banned asset-backed bonds in 2009 after they helped spark the global financial crisis, regulators in China began allowing sales again in 2012. Since then issuance has climbed to RMB282.3 billion (US$45 billion) […]

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Banking & Finance Investment Law & Regulation

Flurry of approvals for online brokerage licenses

Regulators have granted online brokerage licenses to a further 20 firms eager to participate in the burgeoning sector, Reuters reported, citing a list published on the Securities Association of China’s website. The government made its first approvals in August, granting five licenses to brokers including CITIC Securities, Guotai Junan Securities and Pingan Securities, according to media reports. […]

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Banking & Finance Investment Markets

Hong Kong investors pass on first day of Shanghai shares' short sales

The Monday launch of short sales for Shanghai-listed shares traded on the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect proved an anticlimax as no turnover for the new option was recorded, South China Morning Post reported. VC Brokerage director Louis Tse Ming-kwong said the fist-day fizzle was due to investor worries that the market might go up as a result […]