Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) received its quota for the first time in December, amounting to RMB3bn ($440m), according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).
China’s qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) scheme and its renminbi equivalent (RQFII) allow foreign institutional investors to invest in onshore assets, within allocated quotas.
SMBC has become the first Japan-based financial institution to join the RQFII scheme, SAFE records show. China extended its RQFII scheme to Japan in March last year and was granted RMB 200bn in quotas.
International units of Japanese firms have already obtained RQFII quotas, such as Nikko Asset Management in Singapore and Nomura Asset Management in Germany.
Separately, Hong Kong-based Yinhua International Capital Management also received RQFII quotas for the first time, amounting to RMB1bn. The firm is the Chinese subsidiary of Yinhua Fund Management, which was also the latest to receive approval from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission to sell a mainland-domiciled fund in the SAR via the Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF) scheme in December.
On the QFII front, Beijing-based Changsheng Fund Management’s Hong Kong-based subsidiary received quotas of $500m for the first time, SAFE records show.
Since the quota programmes began, SAFE has awarded a total of RMB646.67bn in RQFII quotas to 205 licence holders, and $101.05bn in QFII quotas to 287 licence holders, according to SAFE.
