(Yicai Global) March 18 -- Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank has formed a link with the Beijing Stock Exchange, becoming the second foreign institution after HSBC to support qualified foreign institutional investors in trading stocks on the newly established Chinese bourse.

Deutsche Bank China has set up connectivity with the Beijing branch of China Securities Depository and Clearing, thus becoming the first EU-based bank to facilitate QFII access to the Beijing Stock Exchange, the German banking giant said in a press release yesterday.

In 2004, Deutsche Bank became one of the first foreign institutions to obtain QFII custody qualification in China. In 2008, it established Deutsche Bank China, a wholly owned subsidiary, in Beijing, which also secured a custody license for public funds in the country in 2020.

The Beijing Stock Exchange, which aims to serve small, innovative firms, opened for trading last November. As of March 16, there were 88 companies listed on the BSE, with a total market capitalization of more than CNY200 billion (USD31.5 billion), according to financial data platform Wind.

In January, Hong Kong-based HSBC announced that it had successfully assisted a QFII in completing stock transactions on the Beijing Stock Exchange, becoming the first foreign custodian bank connected to the BSE.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting