Agricultural Bank of China Gets Green Light to Set Up Fund Firm

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has given the green light to the Agricultural Bank of China to set up a joint-venture fund management firm with Calyon, a subsidiary of Credit Agricole, China Daily reports. However, the China Securities Regulatory Commission still must approve the new firm.

The Agricultural Bank of China joins a growing number of banks in China that are expanding beyond lending to asset management and other financial services. Last year, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of Communications and China Construction Bank all set up fund divisions. This year, so have Bank of China, China Merchants Bank and China Minsheng Banking. Pudong Development Bank has gotten CBRC’s approval and is awaiting that of the CSRC.

As of the end of last year, there were 53 fund management firms in China running 321 equity mutual funds with total assets of $111 billion, a  growth of 84% from a year earlier.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.