JPMorgan gets Beijing's approval for first fully foreign-owned brokerage

LONDON (Reuters) - Wall Street investment bank giant JPMorgan got regulatory approval from Beijing on Friday to become the first foreign owner of a brokerage in China.

The move is likely to be seen as the clearest sign yet that China is opening up its capital markets after years of gradual moves and pressure from Washington, especially under previous U.S. President Donald Trump.

"The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved the registration of J.P. Morgan International Finance Limited taking 100% ownership of J.P. Morgan Securities (China)... making it the first foreign firm to fully own a securities venture in China," JPMorgan said in a statement.

China represented "one of the largest opportunities in the world," said bank Chief Executive Jamie Dimon.

For Beijing the move comes as it simultaneously clamps down on other parts of its financial markets, such as foreign equity listings of its biggest firms and the way they operate more generally at home.

Earlier on Friday, the CSRC gave the nod to Fidelity to set up a China mutual fund unit, while Citi has also received final approval for a China fund custodian business this week.

In June, the world's biggest asset manager, BlackRock, [BLK.N] became the first to be licensed for a wholly-owned China mutual fund unit.

(Reporting by Samuel Shen in Shanghai and Marc Jones in London; Editing by Mike Harrison)