Banking and Finance Laws

Following on the success of the Stock Connect program, China and the U.K. are now planning a Bond Connect scheme; China eases immigration rules to attract more foreign talents; and Ping An’s Lufax platform is rumored to be quitting P2P lending.

Reducing the risks posed by China’s $4 trillion wealth management products sector is a key objective for regulators, but it needs to be at a pace that exposed banks can weather.

The National Negative List relaxes foreign investment in mining, telecommunications, utilities, cinemas and water transport

The FTZ Negative List further opens the printing sector

The Shanghai and London stock exchanges’ connect program has finally launched; new rules have been introduced to limit speculative trading of stocks on China’s new technology and innovation board; and the CSRC has urged major brokerages in the China to help smaller operations in the country's non-banking financial sector.

Repayment sequence is clarified for bankruptcy cases

Alibaba files for Hong Kong listing that could raise $20 billion; China’s state planner will encourage more debt-to-equity swaps; insurers likely to be allowed to up investments in Chinese A-shares; and official proposes beefing up penalties for IP violations.

Baker McKenzie and FenXun Partners discuss the impact of the new Foreign Investment Law on the repeal of FIE laws on existing FIEs, as well as the implications of other important provisions for foreign investors and FIEs in future.

MOFCOM’s new Unreliable Entity List is mooted as possible trade war retaliatory tool; Ford’s China JV hit with $23.6 million antitrust fine; PBOC may scrap its official benchmark lending rates; and SAFE says overseas digital finance firms must have local permits.

Insurance companies are required to compute the minimum capital for perpetual bond investments