14 Apr 2000 CHINA: China issues rules on online stock trading.
BEIJING, April 14 (Reuters) - China issued new rules on Friday governing online stock trading which stipulated only licensed securities brokeages can apply to the government to conduct the potentially lucrative business.
The rules are aimed at regulating Internet-based stock trading and controlling market risks, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement published in the official Securities Times newspaper.
Any brokerage planning online trading must gain approval from the CSRC, according to the CSRC rules carried in the newspaper.
They ban non-brokerage companies from online stock trading or sharing trading commissions with securities companies.
Securities firms which have begun online trading must re-apply to the CSRC within 30 working days for approval, the rules say.
Securities traded through their Internet services must be those listed on the Shenzhen or Shanghai stock exchanges.
Brokerages violating the rules face fines, confiscation of profits, suspension of online business or the loss of online trading licences, the rules state.
Analysts say the rules are likely to stoke a boom in stock transactions over the Internet in China, where an estimated 15,000-100,000 shareholders already trade shares online through trial services.
They would also provide a near-term boost to Internet companies supplying technology for online trades, such as Shenzhen Prosperity Systems Co Ltd - in which Motorola Corp and Intel Corp have invested - and Hong Kong-based GoTrade.com Inc, analysts say.
But those companies will be barred from brokering services themselves.
China has 45 million stock investors and the number of people using the Internet has exploded to 10 million from just two million last year, according to official statistics.
The Securities Times said online broking services started in China in 1997 and latest official data showed more than 200 units of securities firms had opened such services by the end of last year.
Several large brokerages, including Citic Securities, Everbright Securities and Southwest Securities, were planning to invest more than 100 million yuan ($12.08 million) each in E-commerce, the newspaper said.
"Online trading is one their important targets," it said.
($1=8.279 Yuan)
((Beijing Newsroom +8610 6586-5566 ext 202, Fax +8610 8527-5258 beijing.newsroom@reuters.com)).
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
Source: REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
BEIJING, April 14 (Reuters) - China issued new rules on Friday governing online stock trading which stipulated only licensed securities brokeages can apply to the government to conduct the potentially lucrative business.
The rules are aimed at regulating Internet-based stock trading and controlling market risks, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement published in the official Securities Times newspaper.
Any brokerage planning online trading must gain approval from the CSRC, according to the CSRC rules carried in the newspaper.
They ban non-brokerage companies from online stock trading or sharing trading commissions with securities companies.
Securities firms which have begun online trading must re-apply to the CSRC within 30 working days for approval, the rules say.
Securities traded through their Internet services must be those listed on the Shenzhen or Shanghai stock exchanges.
Brokerages violating the rules face fines, confiscation of profits, suspension of online business or the loss of online trading licences, the rules state.
Analysts say the rules are likely to stoke a boom in stock transactions over the Internet in China, where an estimated 15,000-100,000 shareholders already trade shares online through trial services.
They would also provide a near-term boost to Internet companies supplying technology for online trades, such as Shenzhen Prosperity Systems Co Ltd - in which Motorola Corp and Intel Corp have invested - and Hong Kong-based GoTrade.com Inc, analysts say.
But those companies will be barred from brokering services themselves.
China has 45 million stock investors and the number of people using the Internet has exploded to 10 million from just two million last year, according to official statistics.
The Securities Times said online broking services started in China in 1997 and latest official data showed more than 200 units of securities firms had opened such services by the end of last year.
Several large brokerages, including Citic Securities, Everbright Securities and Southwest Securities, were planning to invest more than 100 million yuan ($12.08 million) each in E-commerce, the newspaper said.
"Online trading is one their important targets," it said.
($1=8.279 Yuan)
((Beijing Newsroom +8610 6586-5566 ext 202, Fax +8610 8527-5258 beijing.newsroom@reuters.com)).
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.
Source: REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
