China securities regulator denies reports on cross-border ETFs approval

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Friday it has not approved any program allowing sales of cross border exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Chinese mainland, saying such programs are still "in preparation." The CSRC clarification came after media reports said the securities regulator had given the go-ahead for cross-border ETFs and that message triggered share price rallies of Chinese brokerages. A CSRC spokesman said the regulatory commission is still organizing preparatory work on the implementation of the ETF programs and no specific ETFs product is now entering the administrative license procedure. Chinese mainland investors currently have limited access to foreign stocks due to strict cross-border capital control. If a cross-border ETF product is approved, investors in the Chinese mainland can benefit from the stock-trade-like ETFs that link revenue with the performance of overseas indexes.