The Caixin China manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to a near-decade high of 53.1 last month from July’s 52.8, beating consensus forecast of 52.5.
The Caixin services PMI, however, dropped to 54 from 54.1 in July, sliding further from June’s 58.4 —the highest reading since April 2010.
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Credit Suisse plans to double its headcount in China within five years and increase revenues from the country by 100%, its Asia Pacific chief executive Helman Sitohang said in a Bloomberg interview. Credit Suisse operates in China through a securities joint venture (JV), which had 154 staff members at the end of 2019. The planned expansion will mainly be focused on advisory and investment banking services.
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A JV between American Express and Hangzhou-based LianLian DigiTech Co has officially started operations, after receiving a clearing licence from the Chinese central bank in June.
The JV, called Express (Hangzhou) Technology Services Company, is only the second institution in China’s bank card clearing market, which has been dominated by UnionPay.
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Japan’s Ueda Yagi Tanshi Co became the first to receive regulatory approval to set up a wholly foreign-owned money broker in China, according to an update on the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission’s website.
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The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) published a white paper on Monday, detailing plans to develop a new benchmark interest rate for pricing financial products.
The new rate, called “DR”, reflects the interbank lending dynamics and liquidity. DR has been the repo rate between domestic depository institutions.
The central bank said it will encourage the use of DRs in pricing floating rate bonds and interbank negotiable certificates of deposits. It will also urge more international organisations to use DR as the reference rate for their renminbi-denominated financial products, said the white paper.
The central bank also encouraged Chinese banks to shift away from using Libor as the benchmark rate, warning that Libor is set to be largely phased out by the end of 2021.
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The Shanghai Clearing House (SCH) is reportedly working on a connect programme with Euroclear that will allow onshore issuers to sell bonds to the international market through the SCH. The programme is expected to be launched this year.
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Bloomberg and China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) jointly launched a new electronic mechanism — the CIBM Direct request-for-quote service — on the Bloomberg Terminal on Tuesday.
CIBM Direct is one of the four main channels for foreign access to onshore bonds. The new electronic trading service is expected to help offshore investors trade bonds in the interbank market more easily.
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The Singapore Exchange (SGX) signed an agreement with China’s GF Securities to promote connectivity between Singapore and China’s capital markets, according to a press release.
The bourse will help the securities house expand its reach and services in Singapore and the region. On the other side, GF Securities will promote investment opportunities, especially real estate investment trusts, and other fixed income products listed on the SGX in both countries’ markets.
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Nasdaq-listed Chinese online education company GSX Techedu revealed an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in its second quarter financial results announcement on Wednesday.
The SEC's Division of Enforcement has requested financial and operating records from January 2017, following numerous short-seller reports published between February and July this year, according to the company.
Citron Research, Grizzly Research, Muddy Waters and Scorpio VC have published more than 10 short reports on GSX so far in 2020.
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ByteDance has obtained a digital payment licence in China. This came after a company controlled by Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, acquired Hubei-based Wuhan Hezhong Yibao Technology Co, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. Wuhan Hezhong Yibao has held the licence since 2014.
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China Citic Bank and Postal Savings Bank of China have become the latest to join a digital currency pilot trial launched by the PBoC, local media Caixin reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The PBoC has been expanding the internal testing of its virtual renminbi. The big four Chinese banks — Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China — are already participating in the trial programme. The central bank is also working with a list of internet-based service providers, including ByteDance and ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing Technology.
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The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) hired five legal scholars as senior consultants to the regulator. The move will facilitate the legal reform of China’s capital market, Yi Huiman, chairman of the CSRC, said during the hiring ceremony.
The five are all law professors in local Chinese universities.