Financial Services Quarterly Report - Asia
Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors Now Permitted to
Trade Stock Index Futures in China
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (the
"CSRC") recently issued guidelines allowing Qualified
Foreign Institutional Investors ("QFIIs") to trade stock
index futures, with effect from May 4, 2011.1 The
Guidelines represent a helpful step in the on-going liberalisation
of the Chinese securities markets.
Trading in stock index futures remains relatively less
established in China than in other markets, having only been
approved for use by Chinese securities firms and money managers in
April 2010. There is one designated futures exchange, the China
Financial Futures Exchange (the "CFFEX"), and only the
CSI 300 Index futures contract is currently traded on the CFFEX.
Prior to the issuance of the Guidelines, QFIIs were not allowed to
trade stock index futures in any form in mainland China. This
restriction may have been
