豪力律师事务所合伙人丘春利受邀为最新一期的LexisNexis金融服务期刊撰写文章《受益于中澳自由贸易协定的金融服务产业》。
金融服务产业将会随着中澳自由贸易协定取得最终结果而成为主要受益方之一。经历了将近数十年的谈判后，澳洲贸易投资部长罗伯(AndrewRobb)和中国商务部长高虎城于2014年11月17日签署了一份意向声明，该声明指出双方将在2015年用双语正式签署自由贸易协定的相关法律文本。至今为止，中国金融市场的准入对外国机构来说是受到高度限制与监管的。举例而言，中国大陆股市的境外投资份额限制和可投资股票类型限制都是十分严格的。
金融服务行业、特别是保险、基金管理、证券与期货、银行与私募领域，将会随着该协定的执行而得益良多。一旦执行,该协定给予澳洲金融服务提供商的中国市场准入尺度将为史上力度最大的、仅次于中国大陆与香港和澳门达成的协定。
以下表格列出了这些方面的受益概览：
拟议税务变化
两国都同意查看双边税务制度从而推进贸易和投资,为此双方都将重视涉及国际税务准则和双方经济目标的问题。重复征税与防止逃税方面的问题也将被高度重视。
监管合作
该协议还将促使金融服务委员会的建立从而为澳中两国的金融服务监管机构提供一个常规论坛以讨论涉及相互利益的主题、或是指出双边关系中出现的与金融服务相关的问题。
澳洲证券投资委员会(ASIC)和中国证监会(CSRC)已经同意加强合作、增进对对方的监管框架的理解。
人民币交易的发展
在这样的背景下,中国人民银行和澳大利亚中央银行定出了执行备忘录、用以在悉尼建立一个人民币清算行。这将为跨境人民币交易的执行提供一个更为直接的办法。
总结
放开配额、资本要求与限制的最小化等举措将会提高中国市场对澳洲金融服务企业的吸引力，并且为中澳金融服务企业缔造一个更为平等的市场。尤其重要的是，该协定的相关条款将使得进入中国市场的澳洲金融服务企业与其他国家的竞争者相比更具竞争力。
值得注意的是，一般来说北京与上海被视为重要的商务中心，但由于中国庞大的人口， 至少有10个中国大陆城市拥有比墨尔本或悉尼更多的人口。若有金融服务机构尚未认识到该自由贸易协定将带给他们的潜在市场，那他们从现在开始应有此意识。
Financial Services Industry Set to Benefit from China-Australia Free Trade Agreement
Holding Redlich partner Adeline Hiew has been featured in the latest edition [2014 13(10)] of the LexisNexis Financial Service Newsletter, author of the article “Financialservices industry set to benefit from China-Australia free trade agreement”.
The financial services industry is a major beneficiary ofthe conclusion of negotiations for the China-Australia free trade agreement(FTA). After almost a decade of negotiations, Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng signed a Declaration of Intentin respect of the FTA on 17 November 2014. Each side undertook to prepare the legaltexts in both languages for official signing of the full FTA in 2015. Up until now,access to the Chinese market has been limited and highly regulated for foreign participants. For example, there are strict quotas on investments in the mainland Chinese share market, and limits on the types of equities that can be purchased.
Particular areas of the financial services industry which have been singled out as being set to benefit from the implementation of the FTA are the insurance, funds management, securities and futures, banking andprivate equity sectors. Once implemented, the FTA will give Australian financial services providers the most significant access to the Chinese financial services market outside of China’s agreements with Hong Kong and Macau.
A summary of the benefits to these areas is set out in table1.
Proposed tax changes
Each country has also committed to reviewing bilateral taxation arrangements to facilitate trade and investment. In doing so, the parties willhave regard to international taxation standards and mutual economic objectives. The review will also focus on issues surrounding double taxation and tax evasion.
Regulatorycooperation
The FTA also makes provision for the establishment of a financial services committee, which will provide a regular forum for Australian and Chinese financial services regulators to discuss topics of mutual interest, or to address financial services related issues arising from the China-Australia relationship.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission have also agreed to improve cooperationand mutual understanding of each other’s regulatory frameworks.
RMB trading developments
Against the backdrop of the FTA, the People’s Bank of China and the Reserve Bank of Australia have executed a memorandum of understanding to establish an RMB clearing centre in Sydney. The clearing centre will provide participants with a more direct method of executing cross-border RMB transactions.
Conclusion
The freeing up of quotas, minimum capital requirements and restrictions will make it more attractive for Australian financial services companies seeking to enter the Chinese market, and will create a more level playing field in thatmarket as between Australian and Chinese financial services companies. In particular, the FTA provisions will give Australian financial services industry participants acompetitive edge against participants from other countries when it comes to the China market.
It should be noted that although Beijing and Shanghai are recognised major centres for business, the size of China’s population means that more than 10 mainland Chinese cities have populations bigger than those of Melbourne or Sydney. If financial services entities are not recognising the market potential which the FTA will afford them by now, they should be.
Adeline Hiew丘春利
Partner合伙人
Holding Redlich豪力律师事务所
www.holdingredlich.com
