Financial Services Review: Specials Magazine

Capital markets increasingly favor investment banks that can bring financing, advisory and cross-border execution together around a client’s needs. Scale matters, but it only goes so far when transactions span industries, jurisdictions and funding structures. What makes the difference is the ability to pair financial strength with specialist expertise and coordinated execution. That is the approach Guotai Haitong has been building since its 2025 merger, bringing together resources to help companies navigate capital markets that are becoming more connected. Integrated Execution The merger of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities created an institution with more than RMB2.1 trillion in consolidated assets and RMB330.4 billion in net assets attributable to owners at the end of 2025. Its investment banking business covers IPO sponsorship and underwriting, equity and bond financing, structured debt financing and M&A advisory. The group has also emphasized stronger cross-border management, deeper client coverage and closer coordination across equity, debt and M&A. The results show the scale of that platform. Investment banking revenue reached RMB4.747 billion in 2025, up 60.21 percent year on year. The firm led 19 domestic IPOs and had 44 IPO applications under review at year-end, both ranking first in the industry. It also completed 37 Hong Kong share placements and handled 431 Chinese offshore bond underwriting projects, representing US$5.333 billion in underwriting volume. The broader organization adds another layer. In 2025, the group supported equity financing of RMB43.491 billion for 36 technology-focused companies and maintained leading positions in IPO activity on the STAR Market and ChiNext. Its investment banking, research and investment resources can therefore work together around companies at different stages of growth.

Investment Advisory

Every successful financial advice business eventually reaches the same point: growth creates complexity. More clients generate more administration. Compliance requirements increase. Processes multiply. Recruitment becomes harder. Before long, advisers find themselves spending more time managing operations than serving clients. Sustainable growth isn't simply about adding more people. It's about building an operating model capable of scaling with the business. Recognized as the Top Financial Advice Operations & Outsourcing Services in APAC, VBP believes sustainable growth comes from redesigning how businesses operate through the right combination of people, processes, technology, and services. Over the past fifteen years, the company has evolved into a strategic operations partner for Australian financial services firms. Backed by senior industry executives, VBP helps clients build stronger, more scalable operating models rather than simply supplying operational resources. Unlike providers focused on a single service, VBP combines outsourced talent, intelligent automation, consulting, technology, cyber security, compliance and operational expertise under one integrated operating model. Clients can engage VBP in the way that best suits their business, from adding a single team member to broader operating model optimisation, intelligent automation and strategic transformation..

Wealth Management

For high-net-worth families, wealth isn’t a collection of holdings. It’s a living, breathing system. Portfolios stretch across geographies, asset classes and generations. Investment insight is rarely the issue. The challenge lies in acting on that insight. Executing decisions swiftly and precisely across a web of global custodians, advisors and product providers is where real complexity comes crashing in. And that’s where most traditional systems fall short. Sino Suisse Capital’s precision-driven platform, myAlphaTrader, was built as a direct solution to eliminating those bottlenecks and enhancing clarity at every step. Its distinction is most visible in how market data is processed and executed. Where conventional advisors toggle between emails, spreadsheets and portals to compare investment options, Sino Suisse Capital’s infrastructure is already connected, via secure API integrations, with a network of banks, custodians and platforms. The system captures incoming data automatically, interprets it and ranks product pricing in real time based on regulatory execution standards. There’s no manual scanning or delays. Just the best available decision surfaced instantly. “We built an architecture that thinks in sync with our clients’ intent,” says Franck Chen, president and chief operating officer. “Not after the fact, but in the moment. Because when timing defines trust, speed without strategy is just noise.” That strategic intelligence isn’t detached either. It’s deeply human. Every client engagement begins with nuance, not just assets and allocations but ambitions, concerns and life patterns. Insight becomes the foundation for how the system adapts and responds, ensuring that decisions remain personalized, even as scale and automation step in. For families planning across generations, that system extends even further through intelligent structures like Singapore’s Variable Capital Company (VCC). These frameworks allow for seamless consolidation of global assets, efficient estate transitions and cross-border compliance, without adding new layers of complexity. This translates into a model that doesn’t just manage wealth but anticipates it. It operates as an embedded strategist. Clients aren’t left waiting for updates. They move confidently, knowing their portfolios and goals are being managed with intelligence designed to think ahead.

IN MY OPINION

Investment Advisory

How can the American trade finance companies manage present (and future?) Chinese mineral export control measures?

Thomas Lagriffoul, Regional Director of Compliance APAC, Coface

LAST WORD

Wealth Management

Navigating Compliance Challenges In ESG, AML And Digital Onboarding

Chuan Lim Ang, Managing Director and SG Head of Compliance, CIMB [KLSE: CIMB]

IN FOCUS

Financial Advice Outsourcing Services Accelerating APAC Market Growth

Financial advice operations and outsourcing reduce administrative costs, support regulatory compliance and streamline financial workflows.

Learn more

Beyond Traditional Lending: Building Smarter Credit Systems

AI-powered lending intelligence strengthens risk visibility, improves decision accuracy, enhances scalability, and optimizes lending performance efficiency.

Learn more

EDITORIAL

Building Stronger Financial Services Operations across APAC

Financial advice across APAC is being shaped by tighter compliance expectations, operational complexity and the need to use technology without losing human judgment. The perspectives in this issue examine how financial services firms are strengthening their operating models, managing regulatory risk and responding to changing trade conditions.

Guotai Haitong Securities Co Ltd [SHA: 601211] received the award for Top Investment Banking Services in APAC 2026. The company was established by the merger of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities in 2025 and as a result has been able to set up a full-scale investment banking platform which includes underwriting, equity and debt financing, structured finance, and mergers & acquisitions.

Our featured company, VBP, named Top Financial Advice Operations & Outsourcing Services in APAC 2026, approaches growth as an operating model challenge rather than a staffing exercise. Over fifteen years, it has developed a partnership-led model for Australian financial services firms that brings together outsourced talent, intelligent automation, consulting, technology, cybersecurity, compliance and operational expertise.

The issue also considers how compliance and risk leaders are responding to a more complex environment. Chuan Lim Ang, Managing Director and SG Head of Compliance at CIMB, examines ESG compliance, AML and KYC controls and digital onboarding. He stresses risk-based methodologies, stronger due diligence and a hybrid approach that combines automation with human oversight.

Thomas LAGRIFFOUL, Regional Director of Compliance APAC at Coface, examines the implications of China’s critical mineral export controls for American trade finance companies. His research examines trade-supply chain disruption, price fluctuations, changing supplier markets and risk mitigation and finance planning in response to these impacts.

Together, these perspectives show that financial services leadership increasingly depends on disciplined execution, informed risk decisions and operating models built for change. We invite readers to examine the featured stories and review how these approaches can shape the next phase of financial services across APAC.