CSRC issues guidelines for changes to PE pilot

BEIJING - The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Friday issued guidelines that will enable securities companies to incorporate the pilot program for private equity (PE) investments into their regular businesses.

The move will allow more brokerages to launch PE funds, which will broaden their revenue streams and the fund-raising channels of the country's cash-strapped small and medium-sized enterprises, said Yang Zhihua, deputy director of the department of securities firms at the CSRC, at a news briefing.

The regulator required that domestic brokerages can use no more than 15 percent of their own capital for PE investments, but it did not set limits on the funds they raise from the market. It also ruled that the number of investors in a PE fund set up by brokerages cannot exceed 50.