Maybank Kim Eng’s Hong Kong office has obtained a corporate finance license, setting in motion a growth strategy to expand in Hong Kong and gain entry into Greater China.

The license, issued by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC), allows Maybank Kim Eng’s Hong Kong office to offer corporate finance advisory services such as initial public offerings, advisory, merger and acquisitions and corporate restructuring.

Tengku Dato’ Zafrul Tengku Aziz, Group Chief Executive, Maybank Kim Eng: “The license will open doors for us to penetrate into Greater China. This region is important to us, and to harness its growth potential, we are working towards increasing the size and scale of our business in Hong Kong. This will enable us to further capitalise on the markets’ rising opportunities."

The license will help Maybank Kim Eng play an integral part in supporting Maybank Group's objective to have its international operations contribute 40% of its pre-tax profits by 2015.

The Hong Kong office was established in 1988 and subsequently launched futures trading in 1995. It began to provide equities research to institutional clients in the 1990s. In 2010, it opened its first branch in Wan Chai and has since developed its retail business franchise.

Angela Yau, Chief Executive Officer of Kim Eng Securities Hong Kong: “We are excited by the growth prospects. Prior to this, we only had a full broker license in Hong Kong. Now we are more equipped to serve our clients with a greater breadth of products and services in areas like M&A, equity and equity linked securities and leveraged finance."

"I believe that with our dynamic and able team, we will be able to realise Maybank Kim Eng’s aspiration to be a Regional Financial Powerhouse by 2015."

The Maybank Group is Malaysia’s regional financial services leader with an international network of over 2,200 offices in 18 countries namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain and the United States of America. The Group offers an extensive range of products and services, which includes commercial banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, stock broking, insurance and takaful and asset management. It has over 45,000 employees serving more than 22 million customers worldwide.

The Maybank Kim Eng group of companies comprises securities and investment banking businesses stretching around the globe with offices in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain and the United States of America. Maybank Kim Eng has been in Asia for 39 years and provides services in corporate finance, investment banking, debt markets, equity capital markets, derivatives, retail and institutional securities broking and research.

A leader in many of the Asian markets that it operates in, Maybank Kim Eng has won numerous prestigious awards in the markets that it serves.

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