Wed December, 2020, Age: 3 years
While many U.S. companies have begun to sour on engaging with China, following repeated revelations about human rights violations, technology and knowledge theft, as well as the difficulties of accessing China’s domestic markets under an oppressive and ambiguous regulatory atmosphere, U.S. financial firms represent one of the last American sectors that are still bullish on China. While engaging in trade negotiations with the U.S. government, China also lifted restrictions on foreign firms’ access to the Chinese market, granting U.S. financial firms a long-sought-after opportunity to expand in China.
Since the signing of the trade deal, JPMorgan will get full control of a futures venture in which they had a minority stake. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley became controlling owners of their Chinese securities ventures. Citigroup Inc., meanwhile, won a custodian license to act as a safe keeper of securities held by funds operating in the country. And in August, BlackRock became the first foreign firm to win preliminary approval to start a wholly owned mutual-fund business in China, a potential admission ticket to a vast market of largely untapped mom-and-pop investors.
