The government will allow more commercial banks to set up fund management companies, China Securities Journal reported yesterday, without saying where it obtained the information.

The move, which has been approved by the country's State Council, will be an expansion of a trial started in 2005 to allow banks to set up or invest in fund management companies, the report said.

The change will help channel more funds into local capital markets and widen the range of institutional investors in the markets. It will also bring Chinese banks more in line with the operating models of their global peers, which run various businesses such as lending, insurance, fund management and investment banking.

Most financial institutions in China are currently licensed to operate only in one type of business, such as banking, insurance, securities or fund management. Each business has a separate regulator: insurers are supervised by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, mutual fund management firms are monitored by the China Securities Regulatory Commission while banks are under the supervision of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The report also said that China's securities regulator is studying to allow asset management companies, including insurers'asset management arms, to manage mutual funds.

In October, China Insurance Regulatory Commission permitted asset management arms of insurance companies to engage in the mutual fund management business.

(SD-Agencies)