UBS set to buy stake in Chinese securities JV

UBS Group AG is in discussions to acquire a majority stake in its Chinese securities joint venture, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti said, as global banks rush to take advantage of Beijing’s pledge to further open its financial markets. UBS has started talks with its local partners on taking a 51 percent stake in the venture, Ermotti said in an interview in Shanghai on Monday with Bloomberg Television’s Tom Mackenzie. He also said UBS is ahead of its plan to double headcount in China over a five year period, saying the Zurich-based bank may have 1,200 staff in the country by the end of this year. Other global securities giants such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc have already signaled a desire to take majority stakes in their Chinese ventures, following the government’s announcement in November last year that it would relax foreign ownership restrictions. general meeting of shareholders to approve the issuance of direct debt financing instruments. The proceeds raised from the issuance are expected to be used to meet the company’s production and operation needs, to adjust its debt structure and to replenish liquidity resources or investment projects such as longlease apartments, said the statement. The type of instruments to be issued will include corporate bonds, medium-term notes, short-term commercial papers, perpetual bonds and asset-backed bonds in the domestic and overseas markets, the company said.