The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said Friday it had authorized the first renminbi-denominated fund for sale to retail investors in Hong Kong.

The market regulator did not provide details on the new yuan product in a statement announcing the approval.

On Tuesday, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury K.C. Chan said Hong Kong could launch yuan-denominated equity-linked products by the end of this year to help the city expand its role as an offshore center for yuan products.

"We are expecting to see some kind of channel in which Hong Kong yuan deposits can be reinvested" on the mainland by means of investment vehicles, Chan said.

If the first yuan-denominated fund approved by the SFC is the same one Chan referred to, it means Hong Kong investors will have a new channel to invest in the mainland stock market.

China Daily

(HK Edition 08/07/2010 page2)