CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, a pan-Asian agency brokerage, is aiming to launch broking and research services in domestic Chinese shares in the second quarter of 2010 though its Chinese joint venture company, Fortune CLSA.
Fortune CLSA, established in 2003, is a joint venture between CLSA, which owns 33.3% of the firm, and Chinese institution Fortune Securities. The venture received an A share broking licence when China’s securities regulator, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, granted it both a securities broking licence (restricted to Changjiang River Delta area) and a securities investment consultancy licence in June 2008. Since then, the venture and its shareholders have been working together to activate the two licences.
CLSA has now signed a formal agreement with Fortune Securities which outlines the support that will be provided to Fortune CLSA for its A share institutional research and broking business, which is expected to be launched shortly.
A shares are listed on Chinese exchanges and traded in local currency. Shares traded in foreign currencies are known as B shares.
The joint venture partners’ aim is to build a China-focused institutional broking and research business servicing domestic and international institutional fund managers that wish to trade A and B shares listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.
“As CLSA continues to expand its businesses globally, our China joint-venture is key to ensuring our clients have access to the China market and I am delighted with the progress we are making in this regard,” said CLSA chairman and CEO Jonathan Slone in a statement.
Fortune CLSA was the first Sino-foreign partnership created under new regulations approved by national regulator the China Securities Regulatory Commission in 2002.