In Taiwan, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Bureau of Monetary Affairs (BOMA) have agreed to the launch of a short-term bill futures market in the first half of this year. The Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) is working on a system implementation. The involvement in the new market of authorised foreign investors is still under consideration by the authorities. At present, their investment in the time deposits and money market instruments that are used for derivatives margining is subject to a limit of 30% of total net paid-in capital.
However, the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Central Bank of China (CBC) and the Securities and Futures Commission did announce on Wednesday that foreign investors would be allowed to invest in local money market funds, with immediate effect. Their involvement is still subject to the usual 30% cap, and the relative openness of the authorities in this area reflects the failure of local banks and fund managers to take advantage of the opportunity to launch money market funds.