Update: China Approves First Two Financial Holding Companies

China’s central bank has given two state-owned firms the go-ahead to operate as financial holding companies (FHCs), marking the first approvals since it released rules 18 months ago to tighten oversight of nonfinancial conglomerates with multiple financial units.

Beijing Financial Holdings Group Ltd., and China Citic Financial Holdings Co. Ltd., a company to be set up by Citic Corp. Ltd., have recently been authorized to become FHCs, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement Thursday.