On December 29th, the Executive Committee of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone (hereinafter referred to as the Cooperation Zone) issued the "Trial Measures for Pilot Enterprises of Foreign Investment Equity Investment Type in Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Trial Measures"), which allows overseas investors from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan to apply for pilot enterprises of foreign investment equity investment through the "Trial Measures" in the Cooperation Zone, that is, the Qualified Foreign Limited Partner (QFLP) pilot, and carry out equity investment and other businesses in the domestic market. This is an important measure for the Cooperation Zone to actively implement the Overall Plan for the Construction of Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone, innovate cross-border financial management, further open up cross-border asset management channels, and has a positive promoting effect on encouraging social capital to establish multi-currency private equity funds in the Cooperation Zone and leveraging foreign investment to support the construction of the Cooperation Zone.
As an important system to support the development of modern financial industry in Macao, the "Trial Measures" established a joint consultation mechanism for pilot work and clarified the requirements for pilot conditions, pilot operation, pilot application, and pilot management. At the same time, it proposed to establish a green channel mechanism to serve Macao enterprises and provide them with a more convenient pilot environment.
The "Trial Measures" issued by the Cooperation Zone this time has the highlights of "zero threshold, unlimited, and wide investment direction". First, in terms of admission threshold, there is no mandatory requirement for the management scale of overseas shareholders or partners, the scale of their own assets, and the possession of financial licenses. Second, in terms of registered capital, there is no restriction on the registered capital, the proportion of initial investment, and the investment period of overseas investors. Third, in terms of investment business, it includes equity of unlisted enterprises, stocks of non-public issues or transactions of listed companies, convertible bonds, debt-to-equity swaps that are market-oriented and governed by law, fund shares of equity, and other businesses such as participating in equity offerings as original shareholders of listed companies. In addition, pilot enterprises can also participate in the investment of domestic private equity investment funds, venture capital funds (FOF).
The "Trial Measures" stipulates that pilot enterprises should be private institutions, and must go through the private fund manager registration and private fund filing procedures at the China Securities Investment Fund Industry Association in accordance with relevant regulations. It is worth mentioning that the "Trial Measures" implements non-discriminatory management of domestic and foreign capital, and in addition to the basic business model of "outside management and outside regulation", it also allows "outside management and inside regulation" and "inside management and outside regulation", that is, it allows foreign-invested equity investment management enterprises to initiate the establishment or entrust domestic private equity, venture capital funds, and allows all domestic private equity, venture capital fund managers in all regions to establish or entrust foreign-invested equity investment enterprises in the Cooperation Zone.
The "Trial Measures" will be officially implemented on January 29, 2022, striving to create a more convenient investment environment and provide strong institutional guarantees for foreign funds, while opening up QFLP (Qualified Foreign Limited Partner) and QDLP (Qualified Domestic Limited Partner) cross-border two-way investment channels, attracting domestic and foreign asset management institutions to expand their business in the Cooperation Zone, and providing high-quality financial support for the construction of the Cooperation Zone.
As an important system to support the development of modern financial industry in Macao, the "Trial Measures" established a joint consultation mechanism for pilot work and clarified the requirements for pilot conditions, pilot operation, pilot application, and pilot management. At the same time, it proposed to establish a green channel mechanism to serve Macao enterprises and provide them with a more convenient pilot environment.
The "Trial Measures" issued by the Cooperation Zone this time has the highlights of "zero threshold, unlimited, and wide investment direction". First, in terms of admission threshold, there is no mandatory requirement for the management scale of overseas shareholders or partners, the scale of their own assets, and the possession of financial licenses. Second, in terms of registered capital, there is no restriction on the registered capital, the proportion of initial investment, and the investment period of overseas investors. Third, in terms of investment business, it includes equity of unlisted enterprises, stocks of non-public issues or transactions of listed companies, convertible bonds, debt-to-equity swaps that are market-oriented and governed by law, fund shares of equity, and other businesses such as participating in equity offerings as original shareholders of listed companies. In addition, pilot enterprises can also participate in the investment of domestic private equity investment funds, venture capital funds (FOF).
The "Trial Measures" stipulates that pilot enterprises should be private institutions, and must go through the private fund manager registration and private fund filing procedures at the China Securities Investment Fund Industry Association in accordance with relevant regulations. It is worth mentioning that the "Trial Measures" implements non-discriminatory management of domestic and foreign capital, and in addition to the basic business model of "outside management and outside regulation", it also allows "outside management and inside regulation" and "inside management and outside regulation", that is, it allows foreign-invested equity investment management enterprises to initiate the establishment or entrust domestic private equity, venture capital funds, and allows all domestic private equity, venture capital fund managers in all regions to establish or entrust foreign-invested equity investment enterprises in the Cooperation Zone.
The "Trial Measures" will be officially implemented on January 29, 2022, striving to create a more convenient investment environment and provide strong institutional guarantees for foreign funds, while opening up QFLP (Qualified Foreign Limited Partner) and QDLP (Qualified Domestic Limited Partner) cross-border two-way investment channels, attracting domestic and foreign asset management institutions to expand their business in the Cooperation Zone, and providing high-quality financial support for the construction of the Cooperation Zone.