JP Morgan is set to beef up its China presence, having received long-awaited approval for its securities joint venture with a Chinese partner that will allow it to help local clients raise money in China’s equity and debt markets.
The securities joint venture with First Capital is just one of several initiatives JP Morgan is expected to soon announce in China and comes as the US bank attempts to catch up with key rivals such as UBS, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley who have long operated extensively in the market.
The approval by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Friday came just ahead of a big party in Beijing next Sunday to celebrate the US bank’s 90th anniversary in China. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan’s chief executive, has said he intends to spend the rest of his tenure building up his bank’s presence outside the US. But neither Mr Dimon nor Jes Staley, head of investment banking and Mr Dimon’s chief lieutenant, will be in town for what is being described as “an unprecedented performance by China’s greatest Peking Opera masters.”