China fund manager GF lobbies for rule tweak to get QFII licence
Fund manager doesn't qualify now because its assets overseas total less than US$500 million
GF Fund Management, the asset management arm of GF Securities, the country's No4 brokerage, is lobbying the securities regulator to allow it to accept client money in foreign currencies for investment in A-share funds, allowing it to diversify its business as competition in the domestic market heats up.
Chairman Wang Zhiwei said the company was giving priority to obtaining a qualified foreign institutional investor licence. He also said he hoped the China Securities Regulatory Commission would waive rules to support its overseas expansion.
"The regulator has given us a careful hearing, and we hope our lobbying will work," Wang said yesterday. "Some mainland institutions have a long way to go before they can become truly international."
The QFII scheme initially allowed big foreign institutions, such as Goldman Sachs and UBS, to accept foreign-currency funds for conversion into yuan for the purchase of mainland-listed shares.
The offshore subsidiaries of mainland institutions can apply for QFII if they meet the regulatory requirements.
"Some of the QFII rules are unreasonable," Wang said. "We are looking forward to rule changes to enable us to be in this business."
