Overview

• Mizuho Financial Group, Japan's third-largest banking group, has applied to establish a securities company in China.
• The move is part of Mizuho's strategy to tap into China's capital markets fee pool, which is the largest after the United States and Europe.
• Mizuho's application follows Beijing's decision in 2019 to allow wholly-owned foreign securities companies to operate in China.
• Citigroup and Standard Chartered are also in the process of setting up securities units in China.
• Mizuho's larger Japanese rival, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, had previously applied to launch a securities unit in China in 2021, but withdrew the application due to a market manipulation scandal.