Wall Street's Quest for China Supremacy Takes Political Turn

International politics are looming large over the race among global investment banks to secure coveted permits for taking majority stakes in Chinese securities joint ventures. Switzerland’s UBS Group AG and Nomura Holdings Inc. of Japan in the past week became the first to apply for permission to buy 51 percent stakes in local securities JVs. Both banks acted after China’s securities regulator encouraged them to quickly submit applications, people with knowledge of the matter said.