UBS has obtained regulatory approval to take full ownership of UBS Securities, which is based in Beijing, as announced by the Swiss bank on Friday. This marks a significant advancement in its efforts to consolidate business operations in China following its merger with Credit Suisse.
With the endorsement from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, UBS will increase its stake in the brokerage by acquiring an additional 33% from Beijing State-owned Assets Management, thereby elevating its total ownership to 100%, according to a press release from UBS.
This approval concludes a series of intricate transactions that followed UBS’s merger with Credit Suisse, which included the sale of a 36.01% stake in Credit Suisse Securities in China to BSAM. “Achieving full ownership of UBS Securities is a crucial milestone for our integrated strategy in the region, enabling us to enhance our investment banking and wealth management services in China,” stated Iqbal Khan, UBS’s president for Asia Pacific and co-president of global wealth management, in the press release.
UBS Securities, established in 2006, became the first foreign majority-owned securities firm in China in 2018.
