China Sets Timetable to End Foreign Financial Ownership
Caps
Bloomberg Bloomberg News,Bloomberg Fri, Oct 11 2:35 AM PDT
(Bloomberg) -- After decades of waiting, foreign firms have
a clear road map for full ownership of financial services companies in China.
Overseas institutions can apply for total control of onshore
ventures starting in 2020, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said
Friday. The first round of applications for futures firms can begin on Jan. 1,
while fund management businesses can apply from April 1 and the securities
industry will be able to file for 100% stakes on Dec. 1 next year, the CSRC
said at a media briefing. The agency didn’t provide further details.
The details come after China brought forward the removal of
ownership cap limits for some financial services firms by one year. Regulators
lifted restrictions on full foreign ownership of local banks in 2018. China has been opening its financial sector at an unprecedented
pace, luring global banking behemoths such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley to compete for an estimated $9 billion in
annual profits.
China is seeking to make it more attractive and convenient
for foreigners to buy its stocks and bonds, and having foreign-owned financial
services firms is one way to encourage that. Over the coming years, the likely
emergence of a persistent current-account deficit will mean the nation needs
foreign capital to balance its payments.
“This is
a major step forward, which foreign investors have been looking forward to for
nearly 20 years,” said Ren Zhiyi, a Shanghai-based partner at law firm Fangda
Partners who has worked on joint ventures since 2003. “Securities
have long been the most protected sector” of China’s financial industry, he
said.
Since announcing its plan to open China’s more than $40
trillion financial system to overseas companies in November 2017, the
government has been steadily changing its rules even as the trade war with the
U.S. escalated.
Last year authorities began allowing offshore firms to take
majority stakes in the sector, though there have only been a few approvals and
all of them were given to securities ventures. Despite also improving access to
Chinese capital markets, foreign participation is still just a fraction of
overall business.
“Removing
ownership caps will help prompt a higher participation of foreign financial
firms in China, lure more long-term foreign capital and help with currency
internationalization,” said Mark Huang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Bright
Smart Securities. “The trade war has also pressured China to create a better
business environment to boost their attractiveness to foreign firms.”
The CSRC announcement came hours after U.S. President Donald
Trump said the first day of high-level trade negotiations between America and
China had gone “very well” and that he plans to meet with the top Chinese
negotiator Friday. The talks between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are
expected to resume Friday, Trump said. They’re the first senior-level in-person
talks since late July.
Full Force
Even amid the tensions, Wall Street firms have pushed ahead
with building a greater presence in the world’s second biggest economy.
Mark Leung, JPMorgan’s chief executive officer for China,
said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Thursday that the firm is “going
full force in.”
“Our
ambition is to ensure we have full ownership,” he said. “That’s the only way we
as a firm believe we can really deliver a differentiating client experience
through bringing our global scale and product expertise on the ground.”
The threat of financial decoupling looms, however, with the Trump
administration looking at potential restrictions on U.S. investments in Chinese
companies and financial markets -- which would open a new front in the
U.S.-China trade war.
But Beijing policy makers have pushed ahead with the promise
made in late 2017 to open its financial system to the world. In late September,
senior Wall Street figures including Goldman Sachs Chief Operating Officer John
Waldron and Morgan Stanley’s global head of international business, Franck
Petitgas, attended a meeting in the Chinese capital with top national
regulators.
Since China permitted majority
control of financial services firms last year, UBS Group AG, Nomura Holdings
Inc. and JPMorgan gained control of local securities joint ventures. Goldman
Sachs, Morgan Stanley and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. have applied to follow their
rivals.
“China
is following through on its promise of financial opening,” said Ding Meng, a
senior strategist at Bank of China Ltd.’s Macau branch. “The timetable was
moved earlier than expected, which showcases their determination.”
Translation
（彭博社）- 經過數十年的等待，外國公司有明確的路線圖去擁有在中國的金融服務公司。
中國證券監督管理委員會周五表示，海外機構可以從2020年開始申請對境內企業的全面控制。中國證監會在媒體上說，期貨公司的第一輪申請可以從1月1日開始，基金管理業務可以從4月1日開始申請，證券業可以在明年12月1日申請擁有股份的100％。該機構沒有提供進一步的細節。
有關細節是在中國提出將一些金融服務公司的所有權上限限制取消之後一年提出。監管機構於2018年取消了對外資在當地銀行中擁有全部股份的限制。中國一直用前所未有的步伐開放其金融部門，吸引了摩根大通，高盛集團和摩根士丹利等全球銀行業巨頭競相競購。年利潤估計有90億美元。
中國正在尋求用更具吸引力和便利性去吸引外國人購買股票和債券，鼓勵這種做法的一種方式是去吸纳有外資金融服務公司。在未來幾年，經常賬戶赤字的持續出現可能意味著該國需要外資來平衡其收支。
方大律師事務所上海合夥人任志義說：“這是向前邁出的重要一步，外國投資者已經期待了將近20年。自2003年以來，方志合夥人一直在合資企業中工作。他說，在中國金融業 “證券一直最受保護的領域” 。
自2017年11月宣布向海外公司開放中國40萬億美元以上金融體系的計劃以來，即使與美國的貿易戰升級，政府也一直在穩步改變其規則。
去年，當局開始允許離岸公司持有該領域的多數股權，儘管只有少數幾個項目獲批准，而且全部都授予了證券公司。虽然增加了進入中國資本市場的機會，但外國的參與仍然只是整體業務的一小部分。
Bright Smart Securities駐香港分析師馬克·黃（Mark Huang）表示： “取消所有權上限將有助於促使外國金融公司更多地參與中國，吸引更多的長期外資，並有助於貨幣國際化。” 貿易戰也向中國施加了壓力，要求中國創造一個更好的商業環境，以增強它們對外國公司的吸引力。”
在美國總統唐納德·特朗普（Donald
Trump）說美中之間的高層貿易談判的第一天“進展得很好”數小時之後，中國證監會宣布了上述消息。他計劃週五與中國最高談判代表會晤。特朗普說，預計中國副總理劉鶴，美國貿易代表羅伯特·萊希澤（Robert Lighthizer）和財政部長史蒂芬·努欽（Steven
Mnuchin）之間的會談將於星期五恢復。這是自7月下旬以來的首次高層對話。
全力以赴
即使在緊張局勢之中，華爾街的公司仍在推動在世界第二大經濟體當中建立更大的影響力。
摩根大通（中國）首席執行官馬克·梁（Mark
Leung）週四在接受彭博電視台採訪時表示，該公司正在“全面發揮作用”。
他說：“我們的抱負是確保擁有全部所有權。” “這是我們堅信的唯一途徑，透過將我們的全球規模和產品專業知識紮根落實，能真正提供與眾不同的客戶體驗。”
然而，隨著特朗普政府正在考慮對美國對中國公司和金融市場投資的潛在可能限制，財務脫鉤的威脅迫在眉睫 - 這將在美中貿易戰中開啟新的戰線。
但北京的政策制定者已兌現了2017年底作出的向世界開放其金融體系的承諾。
9月下旬，包括高盛（Goldman
Sachs）首席運營官John
Waldron和摩根士丹利（Morgan
Stanley）全球國際業務負責人Franck
Petitgas在內的華爾街高級人士出席了在中國首都與國家最高監管機構舉行的會議。
由於去年中國允許對金融服務公司實行多數控制權，因此瑞銀集團，野村控股公司和摩根大已通獲得了對當地證券合資企業的控制權。高盛，摩根士丹利和星展集團控股有限公司已申請效仿其競爭對手。
中國銀行澳門分行高級策略師丁萌表示：“中國正在遵守其金融開放的承諾。” “時間表比預期提前了，這顯示了他們的決心。”
So, China is modernizing
its financial system in order to let in more foreign investment.
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