The CSRC has just issued the formal version of laws through which foreign companies can access China's brokerage, investment banking and fund management industry. Much of it was predicted, and the memoranda of understanding that foreign financial institutions such as CLSA and BNP have signed with Chinese partners can now be translated into contracts.
The superlatives about China's 'potential' don't bear repeating, but that is exactly what justifies the moves made so far.
Yet the capital markets in this country are going through a profit squeeze. Brokerage fees have been capped at 3% although everyone in the industry is actually offering far less than that, forcing the proportion obtained from brokerages fees further and further...
