BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s securities regulator on Friday approved the merger of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities, giving the final nod to a deal that would create a $230 billion brokerage powerhouse.
The Shanghai-based brokerages in September announced a plan to merge through a share swap.
Under the merger plan, Guotai Junan would absorb Haitong by issuing new shares to the latter’s investors in the mainland China and Hong Kong markets.
(Reporting by Yukun Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Christina Fincher)
