QFII granted to private bank for first time
QFII
Swiss-based private banking group Julius Baer announced it had been granted a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) quota of US$100-million by China's foreign exchange regulator.
Julius Baer was granted the QFII license last December and is the first and only private bank to acquire one. The license clears the way for the bank to buy Chinese stocks and bonds under the QFII scheme.
Julius Baer said it plans to launch a China Fund, which will invest in A and H shares.
"Until now, clients have had very limited direct access to this trend, since few China stocks have overseas listings. We can now offer clients a full range of products either directly from Julius Baer or from numerous external parties," said Kenneth Ho, head of Products Asia Pacific.
Julius Baer has stepped up efforts to expand its presence in China. The Swiss bank is expected to open representative offices in Shanghai and a trust company in Singapore within the year, pending government approvals. In March 2011, the bank expanded its RMB product offerings, adding RMB conversion services, savings and fixed deposit accounts, RMB-denominated unit trusts, currency linked investments and bonds.
China launched the QFII scheme in 2003 and has granted a total of US$20 billion in quotas to over 100 foreign institutions including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.
1 QFII
2010 12 QFII
A H
Kenneth Ho
2011 3
2003 QFII 200
China's business press carried the story above on Tuesday.
