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By Kane Wu and Sumeet Chatterjee
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley is likely to get regulatory approval for owning a majority stake in its Chinese securities joint venture in the second half of this year, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The U.S. investment bank's joint venture informed the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) a couple of months ago about plans to changes in equity holding, subject to regulatory approval, the people said.
Morgan Stanley is seeking to raise its holding in the venture with Chinese partner Huaxin Securities to 51% from 49%. The venture's offerings includes underwriting and sponsoring of stock and bond sales.
The approval is likely to come in the second half of the year, the people said, with one saying it is likely to be as soon as the fourth quarter.
The timeline for possible approval to ownership changes in the joint venture has not been reported before.
When approved, Morgan Stanley will join rivals HSBC Holdings PLC, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Nomura Holdings Inc and UBS Group AG in owning controlling stakes in onshore securities joint ventures in China under liberalised rules announced in November 2017.
The move by Morgan Stanley comes even as the United States and China have waged a year-long trade war marked by tit-for-tat import tariffs on each other's goods. The likely approval, however, will be another indication that China is nevertheless pushing ahead with its agenda to open up its financial sector, after JPMorgan's approval in March.
China has in recent months allowed many foreign financial firms to either set up new businesses onshore or expand their presence through majority ownership in domestic joint ventures across mutual funds, insurance and brokerage businesses.
Earlier in June, Morgan Stanley Chief Executive James Gorman said he wanted majority ownership of a joint venture in China, but that regulators has not signed off on the idea. Morgan Stanley also has a fund management joint venture in the country. Gorman did not identify which venture he was referring to.
Morgan Stanley's senior Hong Kong bankers in recent months have been working on integrating its operations with the joint venture's, another person said. Those efforts are progressing "at full speed", the person said.
The outcome of Sino-U.S. talks to reach a trade deal could, however, impact the approval timeline, said the people, who declined to be identified as they were not authorized to discuss regulatory matters with media.
A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong declined to comment. The CSRC has not responded to a Reuters request for comment.