State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has formed a joint venture with Zhongrong International Trust (ZRT) in China to handle domestic fund management.
SSGA Asia holds a 49% stake of the company, and is expected to make an initial contribution of about $50 million (€37.9 million), while ZRT is the majority stakeholder.
In recent months, the joint venture rules that tie foreign asset managers to their Chinese counterparts have changed, leaving the future uncertain for many existing ones.
Domestic shareholders now no longer need a foreign partner to own more than 51% in domestic joint venture fund management companies.
The joint-venture structure remains, however, the most convenient way for foreign asset managers to access the Chinese market.
Registered and principally located in Beijing, the joint venture between SSGA and ZRT is called SSGA Fund Management.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved the appointments of Gui Songlei as chairman of the board, Wang Yao as inspector general and Li Xuesong as general manager.
State Street established its first Chinese office in Beijing in 2005, and was granted a branch licence from the China Banking Regulatory Commission in 2011.
In Hangzhou, it established a wholly-owned subsidiary, State Street Technology Zhejiang, also in 2005, to develop technology and business support services for China’s financial industry.
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