CSRC issues futures guidelines for brokerages, funds

BEIJING - The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Friday issued guidelines for securities firms and equity funds to trade stock index futures in a move to regulate their investments and manage potential trading risks.

Securities firms should trade index futures for hedging purposes in their principal investment business and they are not allowed to engage in speculative trading until relevant rules are issued, the regulator said.

The guidelines also required that in aggregate asset management business, securities firm must not have long holdings of index futures contracts that exceed 10 percent of the net value of their assets nor should they hold short positions that exceed 20 percent of the total value of their stock holdings.