IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Healthy surge in M&A deals

Merger and acquisition deals in China surged to $552 billion by Nov 12, according to JP Morgan Chase & Co. The United States investment bank said that by the end of this year, M&A transactions would exceed $600 billion, a 58.3 percent rise from the levels seen in 2014. Besides China, the Asia-Pacific region is set to play an active role in global M&A deals and will account for 29 percent of total. JP Morgan was the top dealmaker in China this year, and was part of transactions worth $83 billion, followed by China International Capital Corp and Morgan Stanley, Dealogic data showed.

Norms for Internet finance soon

Certification standards for the rapidly growing Internet finance industry will be launched early next year. The Internet Financial Institutions Credit Rating and Certification Standards, drafted by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, is expected to be made available for public opinion before the end of this year. It will be officially launched in 2016.

CCB sets up new pension fund unit

China Construction Bank Corp, the country's second-biggest lender by assets, said on Friday it had launched a pension funds management subsidiary, in a first for a Chinese commercial bank. The CCB Pension Management Co has registered capital of 2.3 billion yuan ($360.33 million), the bank said in a statement. CCB will own 85 percent of the new fund, while the National Council for Social Security Fund will hold the remaining stake, it said.

China Daily - Reuters

(China Daily 11/21/2015 page8)