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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 […]

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Banking & Finance Economics & Trade

Central bank cuts interest rates for second time in three months

The People’s Bank of China cut mainland banks’ benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates late Saturday night by 25 basis points to 5.35% and 2.5%, respectively, hot on the heels of making its first such cut in more than two years in late November, The Financial Times reported, citing an announcement from the central bank. The consumer price […]

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Banking & Finance Markets Tech, Media & Telecom

Alibaba-controlled finance outfit said to plan mainland IPO as early as 2016

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.NYSE) is planning an initial public offering in mainland China next year or in 2017 for its financial services affiliate Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Ant Financial, which owns the Alipay online payment service, isn’t owned directly by […]

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Banking & Finance Investment Law & Regulation

Ban on local governments repaying company debt derails deals

Directive 43, an order from China’s State Council banning local authorities from repaying debt owed by companies, has upended the US$820 billion market for bonds issued by firms specially created to help local governments get around limits on borrowing directly from banks, The Wall Street Journal reported. That directive also forbade governments from using such firms […]