MUMBAI: Erstwhile Espirito Santo is undergoing a makeover under its new owners, China’s Haitong — the first Chinese bank to enter India. The brokerage will expand its footprint in India and Haitong will enter debt capital markets, equity capital markets and wealth management apart from strengthening the investment banking business. The firm has brought back Santosh Singh to spearhead research in India. The strategy is to grow the global business along four lines – equity and debt capital markets, project , asset management and investment banking. “Besides, we will grow on our existing strength in the and investment banking business in India,” Hiroki Miyazato, deputy chief executive of the Haitong group and chairman of Haitong Bank, said in an interview with ET. In December last year, Haitong bought Espirito Santo’s worldwide business for $466 million. For Haitong, the acquisition gave it presence in the European, African, Brazilian and Indian markets. “The equity and debt research coverage will be done keeping in mind the Chinese perspective. We expect more and more investors from China, Japan and Korea to come to India in the future,” Miyazato said. Haitong Securities is the second largest brokerage with a $42 billion market capitalisation and a strong presence in Hong Kong, from where it controls its Asian businesses. “We want to enhance the relationship between Hong Kong and Mumbai. With more capital by our side and with a talent pool and broader product line, we expect to grow into a formidable company in India,” said Jose Maria Ricciardi, CEO of Haitong Bank. “In Institutional equities, Haitong had a strong Asia piece. It now has the UK business too after the acquisition and we are trying to together set up the US business. We will become one of the few financial services group to have such a wide presence,” Ricciardi said. These plans gain significance considering that most of the global banks are scaling down their India operations owing to thinning of deal flow. With wafer-thin fees, India business has become unsustainable for a lot of them. In the recent past, banks such as Morgan Stanley, , Deutsche, Credit Suisse and RBS have cut down on their staff strength and moved alot of India coverage to the Southeast Asian hub of either Singapore or Hong Kong. Calling themselves the emerging market specialists, Haitong wants to increase its presence in emerging markets and fill the gaps left by these big European and US-based banks. Post the bailout by the Portuguese central bank, Espirito’s business suffered across the world. Though the management claimed that a large part of its Indian clients stood by the company in the uncertain times, it lost top and mid-level talent. “The firm will double its employee strength in India within the next two years. We will fill the gaps in each of the businesses. We have around 30 employees currently,” said George Mathew, India Country Head at Haitong.
Haitong Securities is looking to expand its presence in India, as well as a strategy to grow the its global business along 30 areas: equity and debt capital markets, project finance, asset management and investment banking. This is seen as a significant step, as most global banks are currently scaling down their India operations, due to a thinning of deal flow. With its purchase of Espirito Santo for $466m, it has gained presence in the European, African, Brazilian and Indian markets.