China’s securities regulator has given the green light for UK-based Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation’s insurance brokerage unit to sell mutual funds.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced on its website on July 29 that it has granted a mutual fund distribution licence to HSBC Insurance Brokerage, three months after the Shanghai-based firm submitted the application.
The firm joins five other insurance brokers that have been licensed, including China’s Huarui Insurance Sales and Hexie Insurance Sales.
Established in 2012, HSBC Insurance Brokerage has 380 million RMB (US$53.17 million) of registered capital.
It’s not clear if it is the first foreign-owned insurance broker to win the fund distribution licence.
A number of foreign financial institutions are looking to enter China’s mutual fund market. The CSRC website shows that it is currently processing applications from Goldman Sachs (China) Securities and Credit Suisse Securities (China).
As of June 2023, there were 157 mutual fund managers in China with 27.69 trillion RMB of combined assets under management, according to figures from the Asset Management Association of China.