China securities regulator approves first batch of market makers for STAR market

(This Sep. 17 story has been refiled to show that market makers were approved for STAR Market in headline)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – (This Sep. 17 story has been refiled to show that market makers were approved for STAR Market in headline)

China’s securities regulator approved the first batch of market makers on the tech-focused STAR market, in order to improve liquidity and deepen reform.

Huatai Securities, Guosen Securities, Orient Securities and China Securities are among the list of eight brokers, according to statements from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The CSRC said in January it would pilot market-making on the Shanghai Nasdaq-style market, in which brokerages actively quotes in a security, providing liquidity and depth to markets, while profiting from the difference in the bid-ask spread.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Additional reporting by Martin Quin Pollard; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)