JPMorgan China Clients Seeking Financing Abroad Rises to Record, Fang Says

By Bloomberg News - Fri Mar 02 04:23:46 GMT 2012

Fang Fang, head of China investment banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Fang Fang, head of China investment banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

March 2 (Bloomberg) -- China's economic challenges are expected to be at the forefront of discussions among the nation's policy makers during the annual meeting of the National Peoples Congress in Beijing next week. Bloomberg Television's Stephen Engle reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

JPMorgan Chase & Co.s (JPM) pipeline of clients from China seeking financing overseas has doubled from a year ago to a record, led by developers seeking funds, said the head of its China investment banking business.

We saw a level of activity that weve never seen in the past by property companies tapping offshore debt markets, Fang Fang, who is also managing director and Asia vice chairman for New York-based JPMorgan, said in an interview yesterday. He declined to provide specific figures. We are seeing the return of the equity investor as well.

JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. lender by assets, is among banks benefiting from a revival in overseas fundraising by Chinas largest developers, who aim to ease a cash crunch as home prices drop and the government maintains curbs on the property market. Last month, JPMorgan was among banks that arranged a $500 million bond sale by China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. (688)

The U.S. banks ties to China go back to 1911, when it led a syndicate in managing a railway companys $7.5 million bond sale. In 1921, Equitable Eastern Banking Corp., one of JPMorgans predecessor firms, opened a Shanghai branch, according to the lenders website.

JPMorgan began offering investment banking services in China in the middle of last year after tying with First Capital Securities Co. (FISCPZ) as a joint-venture partner in March 2010. That puts it behind rivals such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), which in 2004 became the first Wall Street firm to firm to win an underwriting license in China, and Zurich-based UBS AG, which began operations on the mainland in 2006.

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JPMorgan China Clients Seeking Financing Abroad Rises to Record, Fang Says

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