British bank Barclays is seeking a mainland partner to set up an investment banking venture that will take advantage of the fast growth of China's capital market where the likes of Goldman Sachs and UBS already have operations.
People familiar with the matter told the South China Morning Post that Barclays was considering more than a dozen Chinese securities firms with a view to a possible partnership, including Chongqing-based Southwest Securities.
Beijing is opening up the financial services industry to foreign investors, allowing them to take up to a 49 per cent stake in securities ventures on the mainland. The liberalisation was announced last week during the annual Sino-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing.
In comparison with its major competitors, Barclays is considered a latecomer to the investment banking business on the mainland.
Although the British bank has a good relationship with the state-owned China Development Bank, which is a minority Barclays shareholder, that arrangement is more about investment opportunities in the global natural resources sector. Barclays is well known in the banking industry for its trading expertise in commodities.
'It is late but it's better than nothing,' said one person of the Barclays move who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
On Monday, a Barclays spokesman told the Post the bank hopes to have a securities venture on the mainland at some point but declined to comment further.