China banks become brokers

摘要

The already fierce competition in China's securities industry is set to become even more intense, after regulators unveiled plans to allow commercial banks and other institutions to engage in capital markets business. Zhang Xiaojun, spokesman of the china securities regulatory commission, said on March 6 that the regulator was mulling changes to allow additional financial institutions to apply for securities and futures licences. The potential rule change would remove a split between China's banks and brokerages, and comes at a time when regulators elsewhere are calling for many large global banks to split up their all-encompassing businesses to protect depositors from risky securities and investment banking ventures.