Oct. 10 - China’s securities regulator said publicly-traded companies will now be required to pay dividends in cash instead of stock, three years before filing their refinancing applications.

The regulation should improve long-term investment and aid market volatility. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said: “The listed firms, if applying for refinancing, must pay dividends in cash totaling no less than 30 percent of its distributed profits over the past three years.”

To improve transparency, it will be mandatory for listed firms to reveal the details of their cash dividend policies and previous cash dividend data to investors in their annual reports.

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BEIJING, Oct. 10 – The China Securities Regulatory Commission has requested unofficial ‘audits’ of all foreign financial institutions operating in the country, amid concerns that an overseas bank failure could lead to the global credit crisis spilling over the mainland.

The decision also includes Hong Kong banks as well as international entities. CSRC has ordered that all joint-venture fund management groups to report on the financial stability of their foreign partners and provide details of how the global banking crisis could affect operations in China.

According to an e-mail sent by the CSRC and obtained by Reuters, “Recently, the international capital markets are hugely affected by the subprime crisis.”

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