A U.S. Treasury official stated that the United States raised market access issues for Mastercard and Citigroup in China with Chinese counterparts during bilateral meetings in Bangkok this week. The U.S. Treasury delegation, led by Deputy Secretary Francis Brook, held talks with officials from the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting and the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings. Discussions included market access for U.S. companies such as Mastercard, Visa, and Citigroup. Previously, China approved Visa on October 13 to begin preparations for its wholly-owned domestic bank card clearing business. Mastercard currently operates its RMB card payment business in China through a joint venture and is seeking to operate independently; Citigroup is seeking a wholly-owned securities license to conduct A-share brokerage, underwriting, research, and proprietary trading businesses in the Chinese domestic market.