The China Securities Regulatory Commission CSRC has granted Standard Chartered SC in-principle approval to set up a securities firm in Mainland China, following the country’s lift of ownership restrictions for foreign financial institutions in 2020.
Foreign banks present in China’s securities market via joint ventures JV were quick to increase their shareholding above 50% after the rules were eased. In August 2021, JP Morgan became the first to take 100% ownership of the securities firm that it had set up as a JV with Shanghai International Trust Corp in 2004. Goldman Sachs followed suit, in October 2021.
SC will be the first bank to set...