Haitong's overseas arm lost HK$6.5B — then the firm was merged away

Haitong International Securities Group — the Hong Kong-listed overseas arm, roughly 68% held by Haitong Securities — ran wealth management, corporate finance and a large investment book. In 2022 the book broke: net investment losses reached HK$5.10 billion, with investment securities written down HK$5.60 billion; impairment charges took HK$1.59 billion across margin financing, term loans and amortised-cost securities; finance costs ran to HK$1.35 billion. The year ended in a HK$6.54 billion loss against a HK$300.8 million profit in 2021, and the accounts carried a going-concern note.

The parent kept the unit alive with support letters, US$200 million of perpetual subordinated securities in March 2023 and a planned HK$1.0–1.5 billion rights issue — none of which restored the franchise. In October 2023 Haitong Securities offered HK$3.45 billion, about US$443 million, to take the unit private; the scheme became effective on 9 January 2024 and the shares were delisted on 11 January. At the parent, FY2023 profit collapsed about 85% to RMB 1.01 billion, which Haitong attributed to falling valuations of overseas financial assets.

The reckoning completed a year later: FY2024 brought Haitong Securities its first annual loss, roughly RMB 3.4 billion, again blamed on overseas asset values. On 5 September 2024 the firm halted trading to announce absorption into Guotai Junan; regulators approved the deal in January 2025 and Haitong's A-shares left the Shanghai exchange weeks later. The merged Guotai Haitong debuted as China's largest brokerage by assets, with CNY 1.7 trillion — the exit price of one firm's overseas bet.