Morgan Stanley receives approval for majority stake in China venture: sources

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley has received regulatory approval to take a majority stake in its China securities joint venture, people with knowledge of the matter said, as Beijing opens up the financial sector to foreigners.

The Wall Street heavyweight received the nod from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to raise its stake in Morgan Stanley Huaxin Securities to 51%, the people said, declining to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A spokesman for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong declined to comment.

(Reporting by Zoey Zhang in Beijing and Julie Zhu in Hong Kong; Editing by Edmund Blair)