Dutch market maker Flow Traders obtains Chinese licence

Flow Traders

09/11/2022 12:19

SHANGHAI, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Dutch liquidity provider
Flow Traders  FLOW.AS  said on Wednesday it had obtained a
licence to trade in China's financial markets and also received
regulatory approval to open an office in Shanghai as it expands
in Asia.  
    Chinese regulators have stepped up efforts to woo
international investors worried about Beijing's policy direction
under Xi Jinping's third leadership term, secured during
October's Communist Party Congress.
    Flow Traders said the Qualified Foreign Institutional
Investor (QFII) licence would enable it to provide liquidity in
China's fast-growing, $200 billion exchange-traded fund (ETF)
market.
    Having a physical presence on the mainland will also enable
the company, best known for market making in exchange-traded
products (ETPs), to serve Chinese investors navigating global
financial products, it added.
    "Accessing the China market has been a key component of our
strategy to grow our footprint in Asia," CEO Dennis Dijkstra
said in a statement, adding the country's ETP market offers a
"tremendous opportunity".
    The announcement coincides with the opening of a week-long
Global Investor Conference by the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE)
to promote China's capital markets.
    "China will continue to open its capital markets, and
expedite stock investment by global investors," Fang Xinghai,
vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission
(CSRC), said at the event on Wednesday.
    Earlier this month, financial regulators also reaffirmed the
country's commitment to growth and opening at the Global
Financial Leaders' Investment Summit in Hong Kong, and the China
International Import Expo in Shanghai.
    "We welcome the continued opening-up of China's capital
markets," Fabian Rijlaarsdam, Flow Traders' Asia managing
director, said in the company's statement on Wednesday.
    Flow Traders has been present in Asia for 15 years, and
opening an office in Shanghai is a natural next step, he added.
 (Reporting by the Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Kirsten
Donovan)
 ((samuel.shen@thomsonreuters.com;  +86 21 20830018; Reuters
Messaging: samuel.shen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))