Foreign financial institutions hold online opening in Shanghai

A total of five foreign financial institutions held their opening ceremonies in Shanghai on Friday, including JPMorgan Securities (China) Co Ltd, Korean Reinsurance Company Shanghai branch, Russell Investments (Shanghai) Co Ltd, Invesco Ruihe (Shanghai) Private Equity Investment Management Company Limited, and Green Light Global (Shanghai) Asset Management Co Ltd. 

The opening ceremony was held collectively online to prevent and control the novel coronavirus.

Shanghai's vice mayor Wu Qing presided over the opening ceremony. 

The official opening of the five foreign financial institutions is in line with Shanghai's goal of building itself into a global hub for asset management and insurance companies, Wu said. The foreign financial industry leaders will form an important driving force to help Shanghai grow into a world financial center, he added.

JPMorgan Securities (China) Co Ltd, a majority-owned joint venture of global investment bank JPMorgan, also officially commenced business in Shanghai on Friday.

This marked the second time a newly-established foreign-controlled securities JV started operations in China, following the opening of Nomura Orient International Securities Co Ltd in December.

JPMorgan Securities will provide a comprehensive set of financial services, including brokerage, securities investment advisory, and securities underwriting and sponsorship, the company said.

"This is a major milestone and we are looking forward to entering our next exciting phase of growth with greater capabilities … We are fully committed to investing our global resources and expertise to serve our clients and support financial market development in China," said Mark Leung, CEO of JPMorgan China.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, a total of 72 international financial institutions in Shanghai have been approved as qualified foreign limited partners and another 44 as qualified domestic limited partners. The world's top 10 asset management companies have all started operations in Shanghai. Among the 25 wholly owned foreign private equity firms registered at the Asset Management Association of China, 24 of them have set up offices in Shanghai.

As China will remove the shareholding limit on securities firms and mutual fund companies on Apr 1, foreign financial institutions have been making preparations in this regard, the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau said.