Everbright Securities, the country's eighth-largest brokerage by trading volume, plans to spend more than US$5 million to buy Shanghai Narada Futures Brokerage, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a manager with Shanghai Narada who declined to be named. Shanghai Narada, which has net assets of almost US$5 million, signed the agreement with Everbright Securities on July 28, although the deal must still be approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. If passed, it would be the first time a mainland securities firm has acquired full control of a futures brokerage in China. The acquisiton would help Everbright Securities diversify its income and seek investors ahead of a planned listing on the domestic market. Mainland securities firms are restricted to engaging in the derivatives business and only 17 of these firms have been granted the right to buy into the 183 futures brokerages in China. The regulator stopped approving new futures firms in 1998.
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