Provisions of the Securities Law on the Definition of Securities
The first securities law of China was promulgated on February 29th, 1998 at/kloc-0, and it was revised five times. However, only the revision of the Securities Law in June 2005 and February 20 19 involved the revision of the definition of securities. When revising the other three securities laws, the definition details of securities in each securities law are as follows:
Overview of the evolution of securities definition
As a financial product, securities are constantly changing with the development of economy and capital market, with very rich connotations and extensions. Securities legislation is difficult to give a clear definition of securities through general provisions, and generally takes the form of enumeration. China's Securities Law defines the scope of securities by clearly listing and adding clauses at the bottom.
China's first Securities Law defines the scope of securities as stocks, corporate bonds and other securities legally recognized in the State Council, and defines the scope of securities in the form of clear listed stocks, corporate bonds and "other securities legally recognized in the State Council". The first Securities Law was formulated at the beginning of the establishment of the capital market, and the types of securities stipulated are still relatively limited. The Securities Law revised in 2005 expanded the scope of securities on the basis of the original provisions, and included the listing and trading of government bonds and securities investment funds into the scope of application of the Securities Law. At the same time, the State Council is authorized to make provisions to appropriately expand the scope of securities according to the principles of the Securities Law.
The expansion of the definition of securities in the new securities law
At present, the capital market is developing very rapidly, and a variety of investment products and products with securities functions are constantly emerging. The provisions of the original Securities Law are difficult to fully adapt to the current situation. In order to meet the needs of the development of the capital market, the new Securities Law correspondingly expands the definition of securities and clearly stipulates that depositary receipts are legal securities. Prior to this, on 20 18, the CSRC formulated "Several Opinions on Launching the Pilot Project of Domestic Stock Issuance or Depositary Receipts of Innovative Enterprises", which provided institutional arrangements for the issuance of Depositary Receipts. The new Securities Law lists depositary receipts as legal securities, which provides a higher legal basis for the issuance and management of depositary receipts in the future.
In addition, the new Securities Law authorizes the State Council to regulate the issuance and trading of asset-backed securities and asset management products according to the principles of the Securities Law. From April 2065438 to April 2008, the Guiding Opinions on Regulating the Asset Management Business of Financial Institutions jointly issued by the Central Bank, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and Foreign Exchange Bureau showed the concept of unified supervision and formulated the unified supervision standard for asset management business. The provisions of the new Securities Law affirm the securities nature of asset-backed securities and asset management products, and bringing them into the adjustment and application scope of the Securities Law is conducive to improving their legal application level and guiding their healthy development. As for the provisions of the original Securities Law on the issuance and trading of securities derivatives, the new Securities Law will be deleted, which will help to clarify the boundary between the Securities Law and the Futures Law and reserve space for China to make unified arrangements in the legislation of the Futures Law in the future.
Building a country ruled by law is inseparable from the perfection of the legal system. The expansion of the definition of securities in the new Securities Law will bring substantial financing activities in line with the nature of securities into the adjustment scope of the Securities Law, which will help improve the capital market supervision system, meet the investment and financing needs of the capital market and better protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors.