Time was any self-respecting foreign bank that wanted to be a player in China was clamoring for a securities license. That’s so naughties. According to the Wall St Journal the new game in town is trust companies.
On Monday, Bank of Montreal said it was taking a 19.99% stake in Cofco Trust, a unit of China’s state-owned agricultural behemoth, Cofco Group. It didn’t say how much it was paying, and the deal still requires both Chinese and Canadian regulatory approval. Foreign investors are limited to a 20% stake in China’s trust companies.
Bank of Montreal joins a long list of foreign financial firms that have already taken stakes in China’s trusts, including Barclays Bank, Macquarie Capital, Royal Bank of Scotland, National Australia Bank and most recently Bank of East Asia which bought in January last year. Morgan Stanley’s joint venture fund-management company, Sumitomo Trust and Banking and Ashmore Investment Management also have investments. And other banks are sniffing around for potential partners.
China’s trusts are strange beasts that don’t have an equivalent in Western economies….
Wait, wait..there’s more at http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/02/21/trust-companies-%E2%80%93-the-new-black/?grcc=ba39b11d673d86eca05574c1af6a5aa8Z10&mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_world
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