Saxo Bank announced this Tuesday that it is adding China A-Shares to its service offering. The Danish broker is providing access to the shares to all of its clients except those based in the UK and Japan, who will be allowed to trade in the shares in the near future.

A-Shares are shares, denominated in Renminbi, in Chinese companies. Historically unavailable to foreign investors due to restrictions on foreign investment, they have been up for grabs since 2003 and are traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

Saxo Bank clients are now able to trade A-Shares listed on these two exchanges. Access to the shares will be via Hong Kong Stock Connect. This partnership between the Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen stock exchanges allows Chinese and international investors to trade in each other’s securities markets.

MSCI Index

Saxo Bank’s decision to add A-Shares to its service offering comes after MSCI, a provider of investment data, added the shares to its Emerging Markets index. This appears to have lent a greater level of legitimacy to, and hence demand for, A-Shares.

It also comes just two months after Hong Kong and Chinese regulators decided to quadruple the daily trading quota of the Hong Kong Stock Connect. As such, traders will be better able to invest in A-Shares via brokers such as Saxo Bank.

Commenting on his firm’s decision to start offering A-Shares, Kim Fournais, Saxo Bank’s CEO and founder said: “The addition of China A-shares strengthens our Multi-Asset offering for traders and investors and gives our clients access to some very interesting investment opportunities. The launch is a major milestone in building the product range which will make Saxo Bank a leading “gateway” to investments in Chinese markets.”