Foreign banks can now sell and underwrite government bonds in the Shanghai free trade zone, according to the latest negative list in the financial service sector released yesterday.

There is also no restriction for international ratings agencies to carry out their business in the Shanghai FTZ.

There is now no mandatory review or approval for transactions by foreign insurers in the zone.But foreign banks are still barred to be engaged in payment and bank card business in the FTZ.

The latest negative list also makes it clear that the proportion of foreign capital in a securities firm cannot exceed 49 percent. The limit on shares held by a foreign investor in a listed domestic brokerage is unchanged at 20 percent for a single investor and a total of 25 percent.

The new list is the city’s latest effort to deepen the reform in financial service sector since the government introduced a package of 40 measures to boost capital account convertibility and facilitate cross-border trade and investment in October 2015.

Source:china-shftz.gov.cn