(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-08 09:06

China International Capital Corp. (CICC), about one-third owned by Morgan Stanley , has become the first brokerage to receive a licence under China's Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme, market sources said on Tuesday.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced in June that fund managers and brokerages would be permitted to invest client money overseas under the QDII programme.

Since then, China Asset Management Co. Ltd., China's largest mutual fund company, and three other funds have received licences from the regulator.

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.

Since QDII was launched in April 2006 as a way of spurring capital outflows and trimming China's balance-of-payments surplus, only one fund manager, Huaan Fund Management Co., had been allowed to take part in the programme on a pilot basis before the rules were revised in June.

Authorised firms may invest in equities in the 33 jurisdictions that have signed agreements with the Chinese mainland regulator, including Hong Kong, the United States, Britain, Japan and Singapore.

The regulator also allows brokerages and fund managers to invest client funds in fixed-income products including government and corporate debt, commercial bills, mortgage-backed securities and structured products.

Banks and insurers have also been given the green light to participate in the QDII scheme.