Citigroup is pushing to be the first foreign bank to take full ownership of its securities business in China, as the US lender tries to leapfrog rivals and take advantage of an easing of rules from Beijing, reported the Financial Times.
As part of its plan, Citi is unwinding its current joint venture with Orient Securities, a local company in which it had a 33% stake, and will next year submit an application for a fully owned business.
If Citi is successful in its application, it would allow the bank to push further into a market that generated more than $1 billion of the $15.4 billion of Asian revenues it had last year. The bank reckons that full ownership would give it an advantage over foreign banks that simply have majority control of joint ventures, according to FT sources.