HSBC Holdings Chairman John Bond said the world's No 2 bank is awaiting Beijing's approval for a stockbroking licence as it seeks to grow what is already the largest branch network among foreign lenders in China.
HSBC wants to increase its presence in a country with $1.65 trillion in savings, while China is set to open the sector wider to foreigners by the end of next year, in line with commitments Beijing gave when it joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001.
"We would like to have a securities business in China. We are examining all possible routes to doing that," Bond told reporters while visiting the Malaysian capital.
"Certainly, we are in a review with the Chinese authorities for the prospect of getting a securities licence. It's a very natural thing for us to want to expand in China," he added, declining to provide further details. HSBC is among a group of foreign bidders vying for a stake in mid-sized Xiangcai Securities, sources close to the situation have told Reuters.
HSBC has made no direct investment in China's brokerage sector so far, but it signed a business co-operation agreement with Shanxi Securities this month, helping some state-owned companies based in central China to list in Hong Kong.
HSBC already has become a top foreign investor in China through its nearly 20-percent stake in China's fifth-largest lender, Bank of Communications, a nearly 8-percent stake in the Bank of Shanghai, and a nearly 20-percent stake in No 2 life underwriter Ping An Insurance.
Its Hang Seng Bank unit in Hong Kong also holds nearly 16 percent of Fujian-based Industrial Bank.
London-based HSBC also has no immediate plans to buy a stake in Korea Exchange Bank, South Korea's fifth-largest lender, known as KEB, Bond said.
Korea Exchange Bank, 51 percent-controlled by US equity fund Lone Star, is considered one of the few remaining buyout targets in South Korea, where Citigroup Inc and Standard Chartered have emerged as key banking players through acquisitions. HSBC, which has tried three times to buy a bank in South Korea, has long been tipped as a potential buyer. In March it said potential buys in the country were too expensive.
Speculation over HSBC's interest was stoked after German lender Commerzbank was reported to be considering the sale of its 14 percent stake in KEB after Lone Star was reported to have hired Citigroup to help sell its 51 percent in KEB. KEB, a foreign exchange specialist, handles 46 percent of foreign exchange transactions by local banks.
Bond also said HSBC planned to boost its support operations' workforce in Malaysia by one-third, to 3,200 by the end of this year.
The increase accommodates HSBC's global growth, he said, though he stopped short of saying whether the bank would cut its workforce in other parts of the world.