Securities refinancing halted to maintain stock market stability

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has announced to halt securities refinancing, starting from Thursday, as the latest measure to maintain stock market stability.

The existing contracts can be extended, but they must be settled no later than Sep 30, the CSRC said on Wednesday.

In essence, securities refinancing enables listed companies' major shareholders to lend shares they own to investors for short-selling. Such shareholders lend their stocks to a securities finance company, and the company lends the shares to a brokerage, which, in turn, lends them to investors for short-selling purposes.

With the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropping below the psychological mark of 3,000 points late last month, there have been complaints among some A-share investors that securities refinancing activity has put pressure on market performance.

The commission also said that it has approved stock exchanges to increase the margin requirement for short selling from no less than 80 percent to 100 percent. For private securities investment funds, the requirement will be increased from 100 percent to 120 percent, effective from July 22.

The CSRC also pledged to instruct stock exchanges to unveil and implement standards for program trading anomalies as soon as possible to further reduce the frequency and speed of high-frequency trading.