China securities regulator says VIE compliant companies can list overseas

VIEs are mostly used by China's companies that list on overseas stock markets, primarily the United States, to skirt the country's rules restricting overseas investment in sensitive industries such as media and telecommunications. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it was improving the regulatory system for overseas listings and was not tightening its policies.

China's securities regulator said on Friday domestic companies with variable interest entity (VIE) structures can list overseas, after registering with regulators, provided that they meet compliance requirements.

In a set of draft rules published on its website, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it would establish a regulatory coordination mechanism for overseas listing of domestic companies. VIEs are mostly used by China's companies that list on overseas stock markets, primarily the United States, to skirt the country's rules restricting overseas investment in sensitive industries such as media and telecommunications.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it was improving the regulatory system for overseas listings and was not tightening its policies. The news came as U.S. markets were closed on Friday for the Christmas holiday period.

Beijing has been examining ramping up supervision of Chinese companies listed overseas since the controversial $4.4 billion initial public offering (IPO) of ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc.