Domestic Securities Firms' Overseas Subsidiaries' Net Income Soars... Surpasses 300 Million USD

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] The net income of domestic securities firms operating overseas exceeded $300 million last year, increasing by more than 60% compared to the previous year.

According to the '2021 Overseas Branch Performance of Domestic Securities Companies' released by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 24th, the net income of overseas subsidiaries of domestic securities firms reached $305.9 million (KRW 362.7 billion), up 62.3% ($117.4 million) from the previous year.

While seven countries including Hong Kong and Vietnam recorded profits through commission and underwriting fees, six countries including China posted losses due to prolonged COVID-19 restrictions and increased selling and administrative expenses.

As of the end of last year, 13 securities companies have local subsidiaries overseas, operating in 14 countries with 69 overseas branches (55 local subsidiaries and 14 offices). Asia, including China, has the largest number with 52 branches (39 local subsidiaries and 13 offices), followed by the United States (12), the United Kingdom (4), and Brazil (1).

During the same period, the total assets of overseas local subsidiaries amounted to $25.86 billion (KRW 30.7 trillion), down 47.9% from the previous year, but the equity capital of overseas local subsidiaries increased by 13.3% to $7.46 billion.

A Financial Supervisory Service official stated, "Although the total assets of securities firms' overseas local subsidiaries have decreased, equity capital has increased, improving the capital structure of overseas subsidiaries. Despite COVID-19, net income has maintained an increasing trend due to the global stock market boom, and major securities firms are actively conducting sales activities such as non-face-to-face marketing in Asian countries like Hong Kong and Vietnam." The official added, "We will strengthen the monitoring system to proactively identify potential risk factors such as the Ukraine crisis."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.