JP Morgan was given regulatory approval by China on Aug. 6, becoming the first fully foreign-owned brokerage in China. China represented “one of the largest opportunities in the world,” said CEO Jamie Dimon in a statement. Reuters reports that China is simultaneously clamping down on “other parts of its financial markets, such as foreign equity listings of its biggest firms and the way they operate more generally at home.” They also report that the China Securities Regulatory Commission, also on Friday, Aug. 6, gave approval to Fidelity to set up a China mutual fund unit, while Citi has also received final approval for a China fund custodian business this week. In June, the world’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock, became the first to be licensed for a wholly-owned China mutual fund unit.
Dimon appeared on Fox News Sunday today, where he was challenged by the rabidly anti-China journalist Maria Bartiromo on the China ties. While he said that he intends to operate in China according to U.S. foreign policy, and would stop expansion if U.S. policy dictates, he added: “You may not believe this, but American foreign policy wants a JP Morgan to properly expand, to serve American companies, other companies.” And: “I am not as worried about the Chinese as everybody else.”
