The Securities Association of China ("SAC") on October 20 released the Measures for the Pilot Programme of Short-term Corporate Bonds of Securities Companies (the "Measures") with immediate effect.
The Measures shall be applicable to the issuance and transfer of short-term bonds of securities companies in their quotation systems. The Measures provide that after the issuance and transfer of the short-term bonds, the total number of qualified investors of the short-term corporate bonds of securities companies shall not exceed 200; and where the short-term bonds of securities companies are issued in different periods, the total number of qualified investors holding the bonds issued in the same period shall be limited to 200 or less.
According to the Measures, securities companies issuing short-term bonds in their quotation systems shall meet the following conditions: the issuers shall meet the conditions relating to the pilot programme of short-term bonds of securities companies as required by the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC"); the term of bonds shall be within one year (including one year); the issuance rates shall not exceed four times the benchmark lending rate of the bank for the same period; and other conditions provided by the CSRC and SAC.