SECURITIES VENTURES
Foreign banks to hike Asia stakes
Morgan Stanley, UBS Group in talks with local partners to boost holdings in their China securities businesses
Hong Kong — Morgan Stanley and UBS Group are in talks with local partners to boost holdings in their China securities businesses, a sign of growing confidence in those operations, according to people familiar with the matter. The banks are engaged in separate discussions on raising their stakes to 49%, the maximum allowed under regulations, the people said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. UBS owns about 25% of its China securities firm, which has a licence to trade domestic shares. Morgan Stanley holds 33% of its venture, which mostly provides investment-banking services and research. For UBS, "talks are still under way, we can’t tell you much more than that", chairman Axel Weber said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Monday from Shanghai. "We have a strong interest in increasing our footprint and our presence in China. We want to build a long-run, steady presence." Foreign firms have been allowed to own up to 49% of the joint ventures sin...
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