China will soon allow its banks to invest their clients' money in a wider range of stock markets, such as in New York and London, through the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme.
Beijing loosened its restrictions in May to let banks invest clients' funds in stocks or structured products in overseas markets where local regulators have signed memorandums of understanding with the Chinese banking regulator. Until now, only Hong Kong has done so.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission recently held talks with regulators from the United States and Europe and "all achieved good results", the paper cited an unnamed CBRC official as saying.
"It is the right idea to gradually lift geographical restrictions and those on investment channels so that banks can do better with their QDII products," the official said.
He also said the minimum investment in a QDII fund would be reduced to 100,000 yuan ($13,000) from 300,000 yuan now, the paper reported. Banks are competiting with domestic mutual fund management companies to sell QDII products.
The $4 billion QDII fund launched by China Southern Fund Management last week drew heavy demand because it is a global stock fund and the mininum amount of money required to subscribe to the fund was set at just 1,000 yuan, analysts say. Banks authorised to participate in the QDII scheme have a combined quota, granted by the currency regulator, of more than $16 billion.