...October 9, 2023 HONG KONG (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 9, 2023--Haitong Securities Co. Ltd.'s (HTS) plan to privatize its Hong Kong subsidiary, Haitong International Securities Group Ltd. (HTI), signals the strategic importance of, and its commitment to, its overseas operation. The privatization and delisting plan is part of the China-based broker's measures to tighten its internal risk control in Hong Kong. Whether the move will be effective remains to be seen, considering the sizable legacy portfolio of the Hong Kong arm in an evolving operating environment. HTS (###/Stable/A-2) sent a working group to Hong Kong early this year to oversee HTI's (###/Stable/A-2) internal control. HTS' group-wide integration of risk management and operations may be more complicated and slower than that of the industry's top-ranking peers we rate in China, in our view. This is partly due to the requirements of the different jurisdictions and the listing rules affecting the group's subsidiaries. We do not expect...
