Hints and tips:
...Beijing streamlined the QFII application process last November, and 156 new investors have been approved, official records show....
...Between January and October this year, China saw net inflows of Rmb241bn into onshore assets from global investors via the QFII scheme and stock connect programmes between Hong Kong and the two mainland...
...QFII quotas were once jealously handed out to foreign investors so they could invest a certain amount in Chinese securities, but are much more generous today than a few years ago....
...China has for the last two decades permitted foreign investors to access its onshore equity markets via the QFII scheme, as well as a stock connect programme launched in Hong Kong in 2014....
...This month China also loosened its qualified foreign institutional investor, or QFII, rules, to ease access to domestic futures, including for commodities....
...So-called QFII quotas, once jealously handed out to foreign investors so they could invest a certain amount in Chinese securities, are far more generous today than a few years ago....
...China’s move to lift QFII caps is the latest in a series of measures designed to gradually open up the country’s financial sector....
...The QFII quotas, for example, were doubled to a total of $300bn in January but were rarely maxed out; only $111bn had been used by foreign investors by the end of August....
...The new QFII rules would also let foreigners buy Chinese hedge funds and futures, and conduct margin trading and short selling....
...Four programmes currently exist — QFII, RQFII, CIBM, and Bond Connect — but crucially, “bond holdings are not fungible across the various programmes,” notes Liu, so investors that can invest can't merge...
...The Bond Connect also complemented existing channels for big institutions, including the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) programme for foreign currency investors and an R-QFII programme for...
...By contrast, the original channel through which foreigners were allowed to buy A-shares — known as the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors Programme (QFII) — provides access to the full universe of...
...Until this year, MSCI’s proposals to include A-shares in its index were based on the QFII/RQFII framework and 448 stocks....
...Running alongside the Connect schemes is the QFII, or qualified foreign institutional investor schemes....
...international investors to buy onshore bonds under the auspices of a so-called agent bank appointed by the government rather than having to seek approval for an investment quota under a set of rules known as QFII...
...International investors still need to access the market through the qualified investor or “QFII” scheme....
...The waning enthusiasm for A-shares was also evident among overseas funds that participate in the QFII scheme....
...As of February, this regime has been significantly liberalised, with SAFE operating a new scheme based on the size of QFIIs’ assets under management and the ceiling for each quota has been lifted from $1bn...
...Both southbound and northbound flows are subject to quota caps, but neither requires individual approval of each investor, as previous investor schemes, such as QFII, have....
...Total QFII quotas have grown steadily from $22bn at the end of 2011 to $81bn by the end of last year....
...On May 6, the CSRC clarified its stance on beneficial ownership of securities through nominee holder, officially recognizing that “A QFII may apply to the securities registration and settlement institution...
...At the same time, other investors that were discouraged from applying for QFII quotas earlier are being quietly persuaded to do so now....
...However Mr Flynn said some investors were cutting their QFII quota because they were instead concentrated on the Renminbi QFII scheme, a related programme for investing offshore renminbi back into onshore...
...This is a far cry from the cumbersome approval needed to invest in stocks under the QFII (qualified foreign institutional investor) programmes, where fund houses need to be approved individually....
...) and Renminbi QFII schemes, which allow foreign institutions to invest in A-shares....
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