BNY Mellon starts hiring for China funds venture

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N) has started hiring staff for its China fund management joint venture and hopes to receive a license by September, a senior company official said on Wednesday. "Regulators have already given us verbal approval to hire and set up office space. This is ongoing now," David Jiang, Asia Pacific CEO for BNY Mellon Asset Management told Reuters in an interview.

BNY Mellon, which manages roughly $1 trillion (677 billion pounds) in assets, said in November 2007 it was planning to set up a funds venture with China's Western Securities. The venture will raise money from Chinese investors for investments in domestic markets.

Jiang said he expects to get formal approval of the joint venture from Chinese authorities around August-September when systems such as compliance and risk management are in place.

The joint venture currently has around 8 people in Beijing and Shanghai, and expects to employ 40 staff by the end of this year, he said.

(Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Anshuman Daga)