Macquarie to launch China trust JV soon - sources

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, April 14 (Reuters) - Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) is close to launching a trust joint venture in China, where the Australian bank aims to expand its investment business for both individual and institutional clients, sources said on Tuesday.

Macquarie will set up the joint venture with Kunming International Trust Co and the Australian lender will take a 20 percent stake in the venture, sources told Reuters last July.

The planned joint venture, which is expected to win final government approval soon, has begun hiring for key positions in Shanghai, the sources said.

Kunming International Trust Co is a small domestic trust firm based in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan but the new joint venture will be based in Shanghai, China's financial hub, said the sources who declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

A Macquarie spokesman declined to comment. (Reporting by George Chen and Samuel Shen, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)