China May Set Limit on Stakes in Mutual Fund Firms

Chinese regulators are considering limiting to one the number of mutual fund firms that companies may own a stake in, down from the two currently permissible, the South China Morning Post reports. The current laws allow a controlling stake in a first company and a smaller stake in a second.

A source told the paper that Chinese regulators are considering the new regulations to give foreign and domestic companies more equitable ownership rights, as foreign firms currently may not own more than 49% of a Chinese mutual fund manager.

Chinese regulators also want to ensure that investment advisors are not spreading their resources too thinly. "Instead of investing in several fund management companies, one should focus on running one fund manager well and on how to best serve the interests of mutual fund investors," a source told the paper.

Should the new rules be put into effect, it is not clear at this time whether they would require companies with stakes in more than one company to divest themselves of those holdings.

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.

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