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- Following suit of other Western banks, UBS (NYSE:UBS) is also underway to apply for a mutual-fund license in China so that it can take benefit from Beijing's relaxed rules on foreign financial institutions.
- It is believed to already have held informal communications with the China Securities Regulatory Commission about its intention to apply.
- The regulator has already approved an application for a mutual-fund license by Fidelity International, as well as bids by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Morgan Stanley and Manulife Investment Management to take full ownership of their fund-management units.
- Currently, UBS owns 49% stake in a JV with state-owned SDIC Taikang Trust; UBS was the first among its foreign peers to underwrite an initial public offering on China's Nasdaq-style STAR board.
- Wall Street Journal reports that UBS was the first foreign bank in China to take majority ownership of its local investment-banking unit, after regulators there scrapped the ownership limit in 2018.