编者：华瑞兴律师事务所 涉外组
Four Authorities Issue Provisions on Assisting Asset Inquiry and Freezing byFinancial Institutions
四部门发布《银行业金融机构协助人民检察院公安机关国家安全机关查询冻结工作规定》
The China Banking Regulatory Commission, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry ofPublic Security and Ministry of State Security have jointly released theProvisions on Assisting the People's Procuratorates, Public SecurityAuthorities and State Security Organs with Asset Inquiry and Freezing byBanking Financial Institutions (the "Provisions"), which took effecton January 1, 2015.
The Provisions propose extensively using advanced information technologies andtaking advantage of new approaches such as cross-region collaborative inquiry,extensive integrated inquiry and inter-office collaborative inquiry to improvethe inquiry efficiency of assets involved in cases. In the meantime, a two-tierfast inquiry and freezing mechanism (i.e. network inquiry and controlmechanism) should be established gradually. In addition, the Provisions set outclear and practical procedures for the inquiry and freezing by criminalinvestigation bodies. Banking financial institutions can only assist inquiringabout information relating to assets involved in cases and are not permitted toinquire about or freeze assets or accounts in violation of legal procedures oroutside the scope.
(Source: www.cbrc.gov.cn)
Guidelineson Information Disclosure of Major Asset Reconstruction and Trading Suspensionand Resumption of Listed Companies Issued
上交所发布《上市公司重大资产重组信息披露及停复牌业务指引》
On January 8, the Shanghai Stock Exchange issued the Guidelines on Information Disclosure of Major Asset Reconstruction and Trading Suspension and Resumptionof Listed Companies (the "Guidelines") for implementation as of theday of promulgation.
The Guidelines are comprised of eight chapters, including the General Provisions,Rumors of Reconstruction and Addressing Rumors, Reconstruction Planning andSuspension of Trading, Deal Verification, Disclosure of Reconstruction Plans,Implementation of Reconstruction, and Supplementary Provisions.
The Guidelines specify that a listed company shall pay attention, in a prompt manner, to anyrumors concerning the reconstruction of its major assets that appears in thepublic media or market; where such rumor may have or has already had a major impact on the trading prices of its stocks and derivatives, the said company shall promptly confirm in writing, to its shareholders or actual controllers asto whether or not there is an item concerning the reconstruction of the company's major assets on the agenda within the next three months, and the relevant shareholders or actual controllers shall in turn reply in writing tothe said confirmation in a timely manner. The Guidelines further providedetailed rules on the information disclosure during the suspension period.
(Source: www.sse.com.cn)
CSRC Issues Measures for Pilot Program of Stock Option Trading and Supporting Rules
证监会发布《股票期权交易试点管理办法》及配套规则
On 9 January, the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC")officially issued the Administrative Measures for the Pilot Program of Stock Option Trading (the "Measures") and the Guidelines for the Participation in the Pilot Program of Stock Option Trading by Securities and Futures Business Institutions (the "Guidelines") with immediate effect.
The Measures consist of 30 articles, mainly covering provisions in five aspects, respectively, the "Stock Option Trading Places and Clearing Institutions", "Stock Option Trading-related Business Qualifications of Securities Companies and Futures Companies", "Protection of Investors", "Stock option-related Risk Control Measures", and"Other Provisions". The Guidelines consist of 34 articles, mainly covering provisions in three aspects, respectively, the "Requirements for Securities and Futures Business Institutions to Engage in Stock OptionBrokerage Business", "Requirements for Self-operated, Market-makingand Asset Management Business of Securities and Futures Business Institutions Participating in Stock Options" and "Regulatory Requirements for Securities and Futures Business Institutions to Strengthen Their Internal Control Management and Calculate Their Risk Control Indicators".
(Source: www.csrc.gov.cn)
SHSE Issues a Series of Rules regarding Stock Options Pilot Program
上交所正式发布股票期权试点系列业务规则
On 9 January, the Shanghai Stock Exchange ("SHSE") issued a series ofrules regarding the stock options pilot program, including the Trading Rulesfor the Stock Options Pilot Program, Model Brokerage Contract under the StockOptions Pilot Program, Essential Clauses of Stock Options Trading Risk Disclosure Statements, the Guidelines on the Investor Eligibility Management under the Stock Options Pilot Program, Administrative Measures for the Risk Control of the Stock Options Pilot Program and Operational Guidelines for the Market Makers under the Stock Options Pilot Program of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Under the rules, stocks which can be selected as assets underlying an option contract must meet the following criteria: stocks must be underlying securities for margin trading published by the SHSE; stocks have been publicly traded forat least six months; the average daily volatility rate of the stocks over thelast six months does not exceed three times that of the benchmark indices; the average daily number of accounts holding stocks over the last six months is notless than 4,000 and they must meet other requirements set out by the SHSE. Inaddition, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which can be selected as assets underlying an option contract must meet the following criteria: they must beunderlying securities for margin trading published by the SHSE; they have been launched for at least six months; the average daily number of accounts holding ETFs over the last six months is not less than 4,000; and they must meet other requirements set out by the SHSE.
(Source: www.sse.com.cn)
2015 Monetary Policy, Prudent with Fine-tuning
2015年货币政策，谨慎地微调
January 16, 2015 - 02:30 BJT (18:30 GMT)
BEIJING,Jan. 14-- Analysts may be divided over possible rate cuts in China's future,but they agree the country's monetary policy going forward will be cautious,with only minor adjustments being made.
China will maintain prudent monetary policies in 2015 with better coordination oftight and loose monetary measures and proper fine-tuning, said the People'sBank of China (PBOC) at a 2015 work meeting last Friday.
The central bank will strengthen support for the real economy, cut fund-raisingcosts and boost financial reforms, including reforms on interest rates, the yuan exchange rate and foreign exchange management.
ZengGang, researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said monetary policy should support the real economy and structural adjustment amid increasing downward pressure. He expects more liquidity in 2015.
Thegrowth of M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulationand all deposits, slowed to 12.3 percent year on year by the end of November.
The PBOC implemented new tools to tackle 2014's changing economic landscape, including Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) and Pledged Supplementary Lending (PSL).
Accordingto China Securities Journal, on Tuesday several large state-owned banks saidthe PBOC extended the terms of a 280-billion-yuan MLF that was due, so as toease tight liquidity.
The newtools are more flexible and targeted to ensure sufficient liquidity, support the real economy and facilitate structural adjustment, Zeng said. Traditional measures like adjustment in interest rates and reserve requirement ratio (RRR)still remain an option.
ZhaoXijun, deputy director of Finance and Securities Institute under Renmin University of China, expects the scheme to be carried out this year and lower risk while improving banks' capacity to serve the real economy.
"Themacro data are weak, but not collapsing," Zhang Zhiwei, chief economistwith Deutsche Bank, said, "It seems to us there is no urgency to roll outstimulus."
Heexpected policy easing in the form of an RRR cut, interest rate cut, a rise oftotal social financing or even an official statement indicating policy shift.
"Weforecast the first RRR cut in Q1 and first rate cut in Q2, more likely to startin March," Zhang added.
J.P.Morgan's chief China economist Zhu Haibin said weak domestic demand and lowinflation will create a loose trend for the monetary policy.
Accordingto the National Bureau of Statistics, growth in the consumer price index (CPI),the main gauge of inflation, rebounded slightly to 1.5 percent in December fromNovember's 1.4 percent, its slowest increase since November 2009.
The producer price index (PPI) slumped 3.3 percent in December from one year earlier, the sharpest fall in more than two years, and dropped 1.2 percent yearon year in 2014.
Easing inflationary pressure will give the central bank more room to initiate measuresto support growth."Ourforecast looks for average CPI at 1.5 percent and PPI at -1.5 percent in2015," Zhu said, "Low inflation and PPI deflation will become the bigger concern."
He also believes one interest rate cut and two RRR cuts will happen, and are more possible in Q1 and Q2, which will likely be accomplished by other quantitative measures like MLF and PSL.
In thefirst 10 months of 2014, the PBOC refrained from traditional monetary easinglike rate cuts and RRR cuts, but an unexpected rate cut was announced in November.
On Nov.21, 2014, the central bank cut benchmark interest rates for the first time since the summer of 2012, fanning speculation that further moves like RRR cuts would follow in the coming months as 2014's growth figures are likely toregister at the slowest pace in more than a decade.
Chinabans US poultry, eggs imports amid avian flu fears
中国禁止进口美国家禽鸡蛋等疑因惧怕禽流感
January14, 2015 - 22:42 BJT (14:42 GMT)
China has banned all imports of US poultry, poultry products and eggs amid recent reports of highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza found in the Pacific Northwest,the US Department of Agriculture said Monday.
All poultry and poultry related products shipped from the United States after Jan 8would be returned or destroyed, according to the agency and the US trade groupUSA Poultry & Egg Export Council.
The ban,effective as of Jan 8, also applies to poultry breeding stock, which includeslive chicks and hatching eggs.
From January through November last year, US exports of poultry products sent toChina reached nearly $272 million, said Toby Moore, spokesman for the tradegroup.
A USchicken export to China from January-November 2014 was 239.768 million lbs,consisting primarily of chicken feet or paws. During that same period, Chinaimported 55.923 million lbs of US turkey.
Thecountry's import of eggs from the United States is marginal, according toindustry sources.
China'sactions came after Hong Kong in late December suspended imports of certain USpoultry and poultry products after two separate virus strains were identifiedin Whatcom County, Washington, including H5N2 in northern pintail ducks,according to USDA.
This same strain has killed thousands of birds on two Canadian farms in British Columbia.
Additionally,the highly pathogenic 85N8 strain was confirmed in guinea fowl and chickens ina backyard poultry flock in the city of Winston, Oregon.
Neither virus has been found in US commercial poultry. No human cases involving either viral strain have been detected in the United States or Canada, and there areno immediate public health concerns, said USDA.
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