Citi Gains Green Light for Wholly-Owned Securities Unit in China

The newly minted Citigroup Securities (China) Company Limited marks a departure from the bank’s previous joint-venture model. After offloading its 33.3 per cent stake in Citi Orient Securities back in 2019, the bank pivoted toward full ownership to gain tighter control over its mainland operations. While statutory procedures remain before the unit begins trading, the license grants the firm authority to provide equity brokerage, securities research, and principal trading to both domestic and international clients.

This expansion arrives as Beijing intensifies scrutiny over offshore accounts, effectively forcing international firms to deepen their local footprint to retain high-net-worth clients. By integrating these onshore capabilities with its existing global platform, Citi aims to capture a larger share of China’s domestic capital markets. Jane Fraser, chair and CEO of Citi, noted that the license enables the bank to assist clients in raising capital and navigating local markets more effectively.

Citi now joins a select group of Wall Street rivals, including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, that have previously transitioned to wholly-owned mainland structures. The commercial incentive is clear: recent annual reports show Goldman Sachs saw its China unit profits nearly triple to RMB1.46 billion in 2025, while JP Morgan’s profits nearly quadrupled. For a bank that has maintained a presence in the country since 1902, this development represents a significant effort to hedge against geopolitical volatility by embedding itself deeper into the Chinese financial ecosystem.