US-China financial regulatory talks to resume between Wall Street, Beijing

Name: Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring
Uploaded: 2021-08-26T02:01:00.000Z
Duration: 2 min 23 s
Description: Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring

Wall Street group working outside US government plans discussions with high-level Chinese officials on market access, regulation

Agenda to include China opening up its markets and inspections of its companies’ financial audits by US regulator

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A Wall Street group is preparing to resume discussions with Chinese government officials about financial regulatory matters. Photo: AP

Bloomberg

Published: 10:01am, 26 Aug 2021Updated: 4:39pm, 19 Sep 2021

A contingent of Wall Street veterans and high-level Chinese government officials are preparing for talks again, as business leaders work outside the Biden administration for greater access to the world’s most populous country.

An influential group conceived during escalating strains between the US and China in 2018 is arranging a new round of meetings before the end of the year, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The talks, featuring emissaries from US finance as well as senior Chinese regulatory officials, had taken a back seat amid the raging pandemic.

The US and China are grappling with protracted stand-offs on issues such as market access, data security and international stock listings. China’s most recent crackdown on a number of its own companies burned international investors, further puzzling the US business community, which is seeking more clarity on the recent moves from Beijing.

John Thornton, the chairman of Barrick Gold and a Goldman Sachs veteran, is one of the chairs of the group, dubbed the China-US Financial Round Table. It had been put together with the support of senior Chinese officials and co-chaired by former central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan.

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Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring

Thornton is in Beijing meeting Chinese authorities including Vice-Premier Liu He and China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) vice-chairman Fang Xinghai, two people said, asking not to be identified because they were not authorised to discuss the matter. The CSRC did not respond to a request for comment, while the foreign ministry deferred questions to other relevant departments.

Wall Street is in a race to tap one of the biggest opportunities in finance as China opens up the industry there. The country scrapped foreign ownership limits in April last year, allowing companies to run their own money-management units and investment-banking operations.