CLSA China JV wins A-share broking licence

BEIJING, June 17 (Reuters) - CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, whose major shareholder is France Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said its Chinese investment banking joint venture has won a licence to carry out securities broking in the Yangtze River Delta.

The licence makes China Euro Securities Limited (CESL), in which CLSA has a 33.3 percent stake, the first Sino-Chinese joint venture permitted to broker domestic A-shares under rules introduced by the China Securities Regulatory Commission in December.

CESL, established in 2003, is already licensed to underwrite A-shares, foreign currency-denominated B-shares and yuan bonds as well as to broker B-shares and bonds.

CESL said it had also been awarded a securities investment consultancy licence permitting it to write and distribute Chinese-language research and give investment advice.

Last December's rules said Sino-foreign securities JVs that have been operating for more than five years would be allowed to expand under certain conditions.

CESL said the new licences would enable it to start a full-service institutional research, sales and broking business from its Shanghai office in A-shares listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

Total broking commissions in China's A share market last year exceeded $20 billion, according to CG Wu, CLSA's China chairman.

CESL's licence is restricted to the Yangtze River Delta Area around Shanghai.

CESL's partner is Hunan-based Fortune Securities Co Ltd.

Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Saturday it had received a licence to set up a securities joint venture that may underwrite, but not broker, domestic stock and bond offerings. (Reporting by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)