CLSA

CLSA Ltd. (formerly known as Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia) is a capital markets and investment group focused on alternative investment, asset management, corporate finance and capital markets, securities and wealth management for corporate and institutional clients around the world.[1][2]

This article is about a financial services company in Hong Kong. For the canon law society that often goes by "CLSA", see Canon Law Society of America.
CLSA
Formerly
CLSA, Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia
Subsidiary
IndustryDiversified financials
FoundedHong Kong (1986)
HeadquartersHong Kong,
Hong Kong
Number of locations
20 (2018)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Youjun Zhang, Chairman; Rick Gould, CEO; John Sun, Deputy CEO & Group Head of FICC
ProductsFinancial services
ServicesAlternative investment, asset management, corporate finance and capital markets, securities and wealth management
Number of employees
1,800 (2018)
ParentCITIC Securities
Websitewww.clsa.com

Founded in 1986 by two former journalists, CLSA has its headquarters in Hong Kong and offices or representatives in 20 cities across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as Amsterdam, London and New York. In 2013, CITIC Securities, China's largest investment bank acquired CLSA for US$ 1.3 billion.

History

In 1986, Winfull Laing & Cruickshank Securities began operations in Hong Kong, with former business journalist Jim Walker as chairman. The small brokerage was a 50-50 joint venture between the Woo Hon Fai family and Alexander Laing & Cruickshank.

Walker was soon joined by two other former journalists: Gary Coull, as head of the dealing room, and Malcolm Surry, as head of research. All three had worked at the South China Morning Post; neither Coull nor Surry had any experience in brokering.

The following year, Crédit Lyonnais acquired Alexander Laing & Cruickshank and, after various iterations, Walker’s start-up emerged in 1989 as Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia). Relations with the French giant – which was about to be engulfed by a series of major financial scandals – soon became ‘impossible’, according to Coull, and he and Walker resigned. They were persuaded to return in exchange for a 35% stake in the company and guarantees of independence.

In 2003 Crédit Lyonnais, including CLSA, was acquired by Crédit Agricole, France’s largest retail banking group, and CLSA remained part of Crédit Agricole until 2012. That year, Crédit Agricole sold a 19.9 percent stake to the Chinese firm CITIC Securities.[3] On July 31, 2013, CITIC Securities acquired the remaining 80.1% of CLSA from Crédit Agricole and CLSA became wholly owned by Citic Securities.

Controversies that have hit the firm include the Securities and Futures Commission reprimand in May 2004; Asiamoney “vote-rigging” email in 2005; and Allen Lam insider-trading conviction in July 2009[4][5][6]

Locations and staffing

With headquarters in Hong Kong, CLSA has over 2,000 staff located in 21 cities across Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States.

CLSA’s Investor Forums

CLSA’s renowned Investor Forums are unrivaled for their content, corporate access and investor insights. These invitation-only events attract thousands of institutional investors to Asia each year from across the globe.

In 2018, around 1,500 CEOs and CFOs from more than 570 corporations attended CLSA Forums to present to and meet with more than 1,900 institutional investors around the globe, while almost 5,200 private meetings were held.

References
  1. Gary Coull obituaries: The Times, FT and FinanceAsia "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2009-07-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Page Not Found". Euromoney.
  3. Gough, Neil. "Citic Securities' Shares Slump on Planned $1.3 Billion Deal for CLSA".
  4. SFC reprimand
  5. "Asiamoney: CLSA talks about that email (requires subscription)".
  6. "Subscribe to read". Financial Times.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.