More yuan cross-border payments allowed

    THE Shanghai branch of China’s central bank is allowing more cross-border payments in yuan in the city’s recently inaugurated free trade zone, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

    Xinhua said third-party payment companies registered in Shanghai or payment companies with subsidiaries in Shanghai’s free trade zone can offer cross-border yuan payment services under the new rules released by the People’s Bank of China Shanghai branch. The move, which affects cross-border online payments by companies and individuals, is now in effect.

    Wanxiang approved to take over Fisker

    CHINA’S Wanxiang Group won U.S. court approval yesterday to take over failed luxury hybrid maker Fisker Automotive Inc. after successfully outbidding Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li in an auction.

    Li’s takeover vehicle, Hybrid Tech Holdings, signaled it would move to collect most of the US$149.2 million Wanxiang is paying, exercising its rights as Fisker’s senior secured lender to trump the claims of Fisker’s unpaid suppliers. Judge Kevin Gross approved the sale of Fisker’s assets to Wanxiang at a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, leaving for the future the fight over who gets the cash, Li or the suppliers Fisker left unpaid after a short and troubled period of operation.

    Citic Private Equity eyes Biosensors

    CITIC Private Equity Funds Management Co. is considering buying full control of medical devices maker Biosensors International, said sources with knowledge of the deal yesterday.

    The Beijing-based firm, an arm of China’s state-backed Citic Group Corp. conglomerate, is in talks with several banks about financing for a deal, said the sources. It owns about 22 percent of the Singapore-listed company, which has a market value of S$1.5 billion (US$1.2 billion).

    UBS Securities to buy stake in futures firm

    UBS AG’s Chinese securities unit has agreed to buy a majority stake in a Chinese futures broker, hoping to profit from an increase in trading of the financial products in China.

    UBS Securities Co. will inject 90 million yuan (US$14.8 million) into Shanghai Pumin Futures Brokerage Co., giving the Swiss bank a 95.42 percent stake in Pumin Futures. China launched its Hushen 300 index, the first stock index futures to begin trading on the mainland, in April 2010.