Japan's Nomura to hold controlling stake in new Shanghai JV

The security joint venture set up by Japan's largest brokerage and investment bank, Nomura Holdings Inc, will be located in Shanghai's Huangpu district, as announced by the district government on Thursday.

The new joint venture, which is still in its arrival process through the China Securities Regulatory Commission, will be the first one of its kind in China with a foreign firm taking controlling stakes, since the central government promised to further open up China's financial sector in April.

Foreign companies are allowed to own a majority stake in their Chinese joint ventures, according to new rules released by the country's security regulator.

"We were asked to supplement application materials by the security regulator on May 10, two days after we submitted the application, and now we are working on preparing the materials," said Cai Yiqing, executive director of Nomura Securities Co Ltd's Shanghai office.

"The speed and depth of opening-up within the financial sector this time are unprecedented," added Cai, whose company established its first office in Beijing in 1982 but has been restricted to operate on overseas business only.

Chao Kenyan, vice-director of Huangpu district, said the district's Bund financial service area that occupies 8 square kilometers along the city's Huangpu river, where Nomura's joint venture will be headquartered, is poised to attract more foreign companies from both financial and other related industries, and make Shanghai a more competitive financial center on the global stage.