China to exempt foreign funds from short-swing trading rule

China will exempt foreign-managed mutual funds from its short-swing trading rule, leveling the playing field with domestic peers and removing what global asset managers have called a major barrier to investing in the Chinese mainland market, reports Caixin. Under a new plan released Monday by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), foreign mutual funds will be allowed to calculate their ownership in a listed company on a per-product basis. This grants them the same treatment as onshore mutual funds and social security funds.

Previously, a foreign asset manager’s total holdings across all its funds were aggregated, making it easy to breach the 5% ownership threshold that triggers the rule. Article 44 of China’s Securities Law requires shareholders with more than a 5% stake to forfeit any profits from buying and selling a company’s stock within six months.

The rule change addresses a long-standing grievance for international investors and marks a significant step in China’s efforts to further open its capital markets. By requiring large global investment firms to cap their positions in any mainland-listed company to avoid the penalty, the regulation effectively limited foreign capital inflows.