HSBC wins expanded QDII quota

HSBC said Tuesday that it has gained an additional US$500 million Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) quota from China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the Shanghai Business Journal reported. The bank is now entitled to invest US$1 billion of its clients’ assets overseas, the largest amount available to any foreign bank. The bank said it had exhausted its previous quota of US$500 million, which was approved in August 2006. The QDII scheme allows financial institutions to raise cash in yuan or foreign currencies and invest them abroad in a broad range of assets, including stocks and other securities, offering new investment channels for mainland residents, who are not allowed to directly invest in overseas markets. The total investment quota allowed under the scheme was US$42.2 billion at the end of September, Beijing Business Today reported Tuesday, citing Li Dongrong, vice director of SAFE.