SHANGHAI: China has granted online brokerage licences to 20 firms in a fresh round of approvals, showing the growing interest in the sector as Internet finance takes off in the country and greater retail interest boosts brokers' earnings.
Among the brokerages that received the new licences were Soochow Securities Co Ltd, Shanxi Securities Co Ltd and China International Capital Corp, according to a list published on the Securities Association of China's website.
The government made its first approvals in August, granting five licences to brokers including CITIC Securities, Guotai Junan Securities and Pingan Securities, media reports said.
Last year, profits more than doubled at brokerages as a jump in the number of retail investors caused trading volume to soar.
A surprise central bank rate cut in November and the launch of the Stock Connect scheme the same month, allowing direct trading of Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks on each other's bourses, also helped boost volume.
However, the CSI300 Financial Index fell 2.7 percent on Tuesday and analysts noted some concern that the approvals would put further pressure on broker commission rates, which hurt shares in top brokerages including CITIC Securities and Haitong Securities.
Comments
Comments are closed.