Chinese regulators held industry meetings on further refining the
securities–funds–insurance swap facility (SFISF) and a relending tool for stock
repurchases. The PBOC will launch a third SFISF operation and will accept
institutional applications from tomorrow. SFISF lets eligible brokers, asset
managers and insurers pledge bonds, equity ETFs and CSI300 constituent shares to
swap into central-bank bills and other high-grade liquidity, which can be used
to finance capital-market activity and support market stability. Participant
demand—both application size and number of firms—exceeded the first two rounds,
signaling strong take-up. Officials said the PBOC will further improve the SFISF
mechanism and swap fees are likely to be reduced further.
