HONG KONG, July 11 (Reuters) - UBS (UBSG.S) has halted plans to set up a new fund unit in China and decided to maintain ownership in a mega fund joint venture from its Credit Suisse takeover, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Suspending its original plan was mainly due to China's regulation that stipulates any company can own no more than two fund management firms in the market, the people said.
UBS already owns 49% of fund firm UBS SDIC Fund Management in China, while its emergency takeover of rival Credit Suisse in mid-June left the bank with a 20% stake in ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management - a joint venture with the world's largest lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398.SS).
Credit Suisse, UBS and ICBC Credit Suisse declined to comment.
The Swiss banking behemoth factored in lucrative income that the joint venture brings in, according to one of the people and a third source with knowledge of the matter.
Persons:
Selena Li, Samuel Shen, Devika
Organizations:
UBS, Credit Suisse, UBS SDIC Fund Management, ICBC, Asset Management, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, ICBC Credit Suisse, Thomson
Locations:
HONG KONG, China, Swiss, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai