Biz Scene: GRAPEVINE

QDII license

China International Capital Corp (CICC), partly owned by Morgan Stanley, has become the first brokerage to receive a license under China's qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) scheme, Reuters reported, citing market sources.

The sources did not know whether CICC had yet received an investment quota from the currency regulator, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange - the last step in the approval process.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced in June that fund managers and brokerages would be permitted to invest client money overseas under the QDII program. Since then, China Asset Management Co Ltd, China's largest mutual fund company, and three other funds have received licenses from the regulator.

(China Daily 08/09/2007 page15)