Deutsche wins joint venture approval

By Winny Wang  |   2009-1-7  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

DEUTSCHE Bank has won approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to set up a joint venture with Shanxi Securities Co to gain access to the country's securities market.

The Shanxi securities house will hold 66.7 percent of the venture in Beijing while the German bank will hold the balance.

The venture - Zhong De Securities Co - will underwrite yuan-backed A shares as well as government and corporate bonds on the Chinese mainland, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

"This approval is particularly significant in that the (joint venture) with Shanxi Securities is the last major license we require to enable the bank's core global businesses to operate in China," said Colin Grassie, chief executive of Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific.

As Germany's largest bank, Deutsche Bank has kept enhancing its presence in the Chinese market, acquiring a 30-percent stake in Harvest Asset Management and a 13.7-percent stake in Hua Xia Bank.

Foreign investors can hold a stake of up to 33.3 percent in an investment-banking venture, and are allowed to buy stakes of up to 20 percent in domestic stock brokers.