Citigroup Inc. C is moving closer to establishing a wholly owned brokerage business in China, with final regulatory approval potentially coming in September 2026, according to a Reuters report published on MSN. C applied for the brokerage license in 2021, and in May 2026, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) completed its review, clearing a major regulatory hurdle. The bank also plans to roughly double the unit’s headcount to about 100 employees by 2026-end through internal transfers and external hiring.
The proposed brokerage platform would expand C’s capabilities in China beyond its existing investment-banking operations, which primarily help Chinese companies access overseas capital markets. Once approved, the securities unit is expected to offer A-share brokerage, underwriting, research and principal trading. These services would give the company greater access to domestic equity and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) activity, creating additional fee opportunities and strengthening its onshore capital markets franchise.
The bank enters this expansion with an established corporate and commercial banking franchise in China. The bank already serves onshore clients through foreign exchange, cash management and trade finance, giving it existing relationships that can be leveraged to introduce securities and capital-markets services. This creates an opportunity to deepen client relationships and capture a larger share of their overall financial activity as domestic markets become a bigger part of C’s China offering.
The expansion also fits Citigroup’s OneCiti strategy of connecting businesses and products to increase wallet share across client relationships. By combining its existing banking capabilities with domestic brokerage and capital-markets services, C could pursue more opportunities across the client lifecycle, from financing and cash management to equity issuance, M&A and securities trading. This could support its broader objective of increasing investment-banking wallet share from 4.7% in 2025 to more than 6% in the near term, a key target outlined at its 2026 Investor Day.
The brokerage push is also consistent with C’s broader repositioning of its China business toward institutional banking and capital markets. The bank sold its China consumer banking business to HSBC Holdings plc HSBC in 2024, allowing it to concentrate resources on institutional clients. Rather than rebuilding its former consumer franchise, the proposed securities platform would deepen C’s institutional presence by adding domestic-market capabilities to its existing corporate and investment-banking relationships. Overall, the China brokerage license could enable Citigroup to deepen existing client relationships, capture a larger share of domestic capital markets activity and unlock new fee opportunities.
How Are Other Firms Positioned in China?
Not only Citigroup, but also other global players like JPMorgan JPM and Goldman Sachs GS have strengthened their presence in China’s securities market through wholly owned onshore platforms.
JPMorgan has built a strong securities presence in China, receiving CSRC approval in August 2021 to fully own J.P. Morgan Securities (China), making it the first foreign bank to fully own a securities venture in the country. JPMorgan’s broader China franchise includes a wholly owned futures business and China International Fund Management, while its strong global investment-banking position is reflected in a 9.3% wallet share in the first half of 2026.
Goldman Sachs has similarly strengthened its China franchise, receiving approval in October 2021 to fully own Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities and consolidate its onshore businesses under one entity. The strong global investment-banking franchise of Goldman Sachs further supports this positioning, with investment-banking fees rising 52% year over year to $6.2 billion in the first half of 2026, while its backlog reached a five-year high.
C’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank
Over the past six months, shares of Citigroup have gained 29.2% compared with the industry’s growth of 24.9%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Citigroup currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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