China Merchants Securities gets key S. Korea license

China Merchants Securities Co Ltd, one of the country's biggest brokerages by assets, has obtained official overseas securities brokerage license in South Korea, making it the first mainland securities company to get the green light.

The license was approved by South Korea's Financial Services Commission on June 29 and three days later the Chinese mainland opened Bond Connect with Hong Kong, the long-awaited platform that allows qualified overseas investors to access mainland interbank bond markets without a quota limitation.

Analysts said that as a result, the Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed brokerage could expand its current services as an information consultant to selling derivatives and bonds from the mainland and Hong Kong markets to South Korea's institutional investors.