The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission approved the launch of a majority foreign-owned wealth management company in Shanghai by BlackRock Financial Management Co., an affiliate of Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings and China Construction Bank Corp.
"We received approval from CBIRC for the preparation of the establishment of a wealth management company in China," confirmed Aedan Lai, a Singapore-based spokesman for Temasek. Temasek had S$306 billion ($214.6 billion) in assets as of March 31. He declined to give further details.
The CBIRC approval "is for establishing the joint venture," said a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for BlackRock. The business will launch "at a later date," she added.
The Shanghai-based JV, to be called BlackRock-CCB Wealth Management Co., will "solely offer onshore products to domestic investors," the BlackRock spokeswoman said.
BlackRock and Temasek will together hold a majority stake, she said. CCB will hold the remainder.
At an Aug. 22 press briefing, a CBIRC spokesman noted that despite a time of rising geopolitical tensions with the U.S. over Hong Kong, the Chinese government was continuing to open its financial sector.
Since 2018, the CBIRC "has approved foreign banks and insurance companies to set up nearly 100 institutions in China, including insurance companies and wealth management companies that are wholly foreign-owned or controlled, he said.
