(Yicai Global) March 8 -- Credit Suisse Securities has been given the green light to expand its broker business across China, in a major milestone for the Swiss financial institution as it aims to establish a stronghold in the country’s booming wealth management sector.

Credit Suisse has been granted approval to add securities brokerage, securities investment consulting and securities proprietary trading to its business scope in China, Yicai Global has learned. Previously, the Zurich-based company was only permitted to carry out investment banking in China, and its brokerage services were limited to Qianhai district in Shenzhen.

"Winning approvals of three new licenses excites us very much," said Edwin Low, chief executive officer of Credit Suisse’s Asia Pacific branch. "China is one of the markets with the fastest wealth growth worldwide, and this is a key milestone for us to launch wealth management business in China."

The Swiss lender should introduce wealth management services in China in 2023, Benjamin Cavalli, wealth management business director of the Asia Pacific region at Credit Suisse, said earlier.

Credit Suisse has been at the forefront of China's recent opening up of its capital markets. As soon as regulations allowed, the firm took a majority stake of 51 percent in its securities joint venture with Founder Securities in June 2020 and changed its name to Credit Suisse Securities China. It then acquired the remaining equity in the JV at the end of last year for CNY1.1 billion (USD157.8 million), becoming only the third foreign financial institution to wholly own a brokerage on the mainland after J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Credit Suisse has long been eyeing China’s booming wealth management sector, which is one of the biggest and fastest-growing in the world. China’s wealth surged 15.1 percent in 2021 from 2020 to USD85.1 trillion, accounting for one quarter of the world’s new wealth, according to the Swiss lender’s Global Wealth Report.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Kim Taylor