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Oct. 9 (NBD) -- Haitong International Securities Group Limited ("Haitong International") on Monday started conducting market-making businesses in the U.S. market through its U.S. subsidiary, which makes the financial institution the first Chinese-funded market maker on the Nasdaq Stock Market ("Nasdaq").

The parent company of Haitong International is Haitong Securities Co. Ltd ("Haitong Securities").

Lin Yong, executive deputy chairman of the Board and chief executive officer of Haitong International, deemed that market makers constitute an important part in the U.S. financial ecosystem. Haitong International will provide market-making services for overseas-listed Chinese companies in the initial stage and will make adjustments according to market conditions and customer needs in the future, Lin added.

Today, Nasdaq lists nearly 5,400 companies with a total market value of 10 trillion U.S. dollars, and trades shares worth over 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars on average every month. Over 500 of them are Chinese enterprises.

However, prior to Haitong International, the American stock exchange has never had a Chinese financial institution as a market maker. Haitong International is filling the void.

John Graf, senior managing director of Global Trading and Market Services at Nasdaq, expected Haitong International's join-in to draw an increasing number of investors in the Asia-Pacific region to the bourse.

Ever since Haitong International took over the branches in London and New York from Haitong Bank, a subsidiary under Haitong Securities, in 2017, the investment bank has been beefing up its expansion in the U.S., having obtained the Qualified Intermediary License from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and then become a member of Nasdaq.

In June this year, Haitong International completed its first convertible bond issuance in the U.S. for a Chinese company listed on Nasdaq.

As China further opens its financial market, the country's securities firms have been going abroad in succession to expand global businesses. Among them, China International Capital Corporation Limited ("CICC") and CITIC Securities set foot in the U.S. market earlier.

CICC U.S. Securities, CICC's U.S. branch, opened an office in New York as early as 2009, and CICC became the first Chinese broker-dealer to provide services for securities listed on U.S. exchanges in 2010.

CITIC Securities adopted a different way to make inroads into the U.S. market through establishing a joint venture, CITIC Securities International Partners, with U.S. investment bank Evercore Partners.

Industry insiders analyzed both CICC and CITIC Securities, in the U.S. market, primarily focus on sell-side businesses including providing underwriting services and advising on mergers and acquisitions.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn