SinoPac Securities Co (永豐金證券), the securities arm of SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) said yesterday that it would partner with a Chinese venture capital firm to set up a securities house in China’s Fujian Province as the conglomerates seeks to outpace its peers in tapping China’s capital market.
The announcement came after Taiwan and China agreed last week to actively relax rules governing access to their capital markets without saying when the measures would take effect.
SinoPac Securities has struck a deal with Jinchai Venture Capital (金財投資), a subsidiary of Xiamen Jinyuan Investment Group (金圓投資集團), to establish a securities company in Xiamen, Fujian Province, under which SinoPac would own a 51 percent stake and its Chinese partner the remaining 49 percent, SinoPac Financial spokesman Michael Chang (張晉源) told a media briefing.
The proposed structure falls in line with China’s plans to set up trial zones in Shanghai, Fujian and Shenzhen where Taiwanese shareholders may own up to 51 percent of new securities houses co-funded by Chinese partners.
Currently, the cap is set at 49 percent as China is cautious about opening its capital market to foreign investors.
The joint venture would have a capitalization of 500 million yuan (US$80.2 million) and offer stock brokerage, proprietary trading, financial consultancy, asset management and other financial services, Chang said.
“We will file applications once Taiwan and China announce more detailed measures,” Chang said.
If given the go-ahead, SinoPac would be the first Taiwanese company to set up a brokerage in China, Chang said, adding the company prefers Xiamen given its well-established infrastructure, rapid economic growth and large number of Taiwanese customers.
“SinoPac has to act fast because China will allow only one jointly-funded brokerage in each of the three trial zones,” Chang said.
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金), which owns a 20 percent stake in Xiamen City Commercial Bank (廈門銀行), also plans to deepen its presence there.
It takes time to find a partner with shared development visions, Chang said, adding that SinoPac is confident of winning a fair review in Taiwan and China.
The Xiamen City Government has 100 percent control of Jinyuan and its subsidiaries.
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Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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