(Yicai Global) Sep. 27 -- The Shanghai-London Stock Connect, which allows foreign investors to buy Chinese mainland stocks and vice versa, may be opened in the next three months, financial information outlet Shanghai Securities News reported. 

Tests of the cross-border stock trading scheme will be put into the fast lane in early October for an eventual launch earliest on Dec. 3, a system preparation schedule that Shanghai Securities News saw shows. 

The initial dates for the overall tests are scheduled for Oct. 27, Nov. 17 and Nov. 24. After that, the SSE will arrange technical tests for securities brokers on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2, or two days before the stock link goes online.

The SSE has set a threshold for investors who want to buy China Depositary Receipts through the program. CDRs are types of depositary receipts that generally allow Chinese investors to buy into foreign firms -- often Chinese overseas-listed tech companies -- through Chinese stock exchanges.

At the start, qualified individual investors must have more than CNY3 million (USD436,000) on average in their securities accounts for all 20 trading days before filing their applications. These investors are also required to pass a risk tolerance assessment test developed by each securities company and sign a CDR risk disclosure letter.

The threshold of CNY3 million may be adjusted later according to market development, a senior stock trader at a medium-sized brokerage firm said.

Companies should set the risk tolerance level of CDR investors to be from medium to high and above, the broker added. "Those investors can participate in high-risk businesses such as A-shares, margin trading, and options."

Editor: Emmi Laine