BloombergChina yesterday said it would bring forward plans to remove foreign ownership limits on financial companies, as it speeds up efforts to open the US$44 trillion industry to overseas competitors. It is the latest step in the country’s financial-opening policy, a push that was unveiled in late 2017 and which has seen companies including UBS Group AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co take measures to increase their onshore presence. In May, the government said it would lift single-shareholder limits on local banks and scrapped some asset requirements for foreign companies to operate onshore. Firms including Morgan Stanley and DBS Group Holdings Ltd are in the process of seeking to gain control. “JPMorgan welcomes any decision made by the Chinese government that looks to liberalize its financial sector further,” JPMorgan chief executive officer for China Mark Leung (梁治文) said in an e-mailed statement.

Source: Taipei Times July 02, 2019 15:56 UTC