On Sept. 5, 2024, Haitong Securities Co. Ltd. (Haitong) announced its plan to merge with Guotai Junan Securities Co. Ltd. (GTJA) via a share swap. The transaction is subject to regulatory clearance and the approvals by the shareholders and the boards of directors of both entities. We revised the outlook on Haitong and its subsidiary Haitong International Securities Group Ltd. (HTI) to developing from negative to reflect the uncertain outcome of this merger. At the same time, we affirmed our 'BBB' long-term and 'A-2' short-term issuer credit ratings on both entities. The developing outlook on the long-term ratings reflects that we could affirm, lower, or raise our ratings on Haitong and HTI over the next two years, depending on the
