After failing to buy the Credit Suisse unit, Citadel Securities views building an operation from the ground up as the best option since most brokerages in China are fully licensed, which is less compatible with its own approach. The firm regarded Credit Suisse’s China platform — primarily focused on brokerage services and investment banking — as a better fit for its expansion, one of the people said.
Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities has opted to establish its own brokerage operation in China after failing in its bid for Credit Suisse’s onshore business and seeing no viable alternative takeover targets, people familiar with the matter said.
The US firm, part of Griffin’s sprawling hedge fund and trading empire, is preparing an application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission for brokerage, asset management and proprietary trading licenses, the people said, asking not to be named as plans have not been made public.
