Northern Trust is in the process of opening a representative office in Beijing, says Lawrence Au, senior vice president and regional managing director in Singapore. The custody bank has identified a Mandarin-speaking executive now at its headquarters in Chicago who will run the office, but does not want to identify this person until the regulators give a formal go-ahead.
A rep office can't conduct real business, but we need to have one for two years before we can apply for branch status, says Au. Under China's agreement with the World Trade Organization, it must open its market to banks by the end of 2007. So now is the right time for...
