Australian based fund manager La Trobe Financial has setup formal registration in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FT Zone) to enable growth of its current local operations and capture opportunities this presented for trade and investment flows between China and Australia.
La Trobe Financial is well positioned to participate in China's proposed financial market deregulation as one of the few financial institutions setting up in the FT Zone, according to the company.
Under the FT Zone's current regulatory framework, La Trobe Financial said it will conduct a range of investment and asset management services, designed to accelerate China's and Shanghai city's construction of "six fields of industry"- one of which is financial services.
"Asia's development and population base means it is now well on track to be a significant global player in financial markets," La Trobe Financial chief executive, Greg O'Neill said.
"Regional financial integration is very important for Asia-Pacific financial markets in order to achieve greater economies of scale, depth in liquidity and ultimately better support the region's economic development plans by improving access to finance in each economy," he said.
O'Neill added developments such as the FT Zone, and the proposed Asian regional Funds Passport, create a better legal and regulatory framework for investor protections and efficient and transparent markets, which will ultimately lead to economic and regional stability.
