Deutsche Bank confirmed that it has been in talks with an undisclosed Chinese company to form an underwriting joint venture in China. The venture, due to be launched early next year pending regulatory approval, will underwrite public offerings on the A-share market and carry out research on companies listed in Shanghai. However, the German bank said it would not trade in A-shares.
As part of China's deal to join the WTO, foreign companies can take a stake of up to 33 per cent in an underwriting joint venture, rising to 49 per cent by about 2005. So far, CLSA, BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley have established underwriting joint ventures.