Foreign asset managers will be allowed to be the controlling shareholder in wealth management joint ventures they set up with Chinese financial institutions, according to a series of measures on further opening up the country’s financial sector released Saturday.
Foreign financial institutions will also be allowed to apply for the Type-A lead bond underwriter license in the interbank market, according to the measures. This will allow them to underwrite all debt financing tools in the interbank market, a notice published on the People’s Bank of China’s website Saturday explains. Foreign institutions have previously only been allowed to be the lead underwriter for corporate panda bonds — yuan-dominated bonds that are issued by foreign non-financial institutions in China.
It’s hard for existing companies to meet the needs of China’s fast-growing asset-management market, a spokesperson at the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said Saturday. Allowing foreign institutions to control wealth management companies will help the sector’s development, the spokesperson said.