CLSA

In 1986, Winfull Laing & Cruickshank Securities began operations in Hong Kong, with former business journalist Jim Walker as chairman. The small brokerage was a 50-50 joint venture between the Woo Hon Fai family and Alexander Laing & Cruickshank.

Walker was soon joined by two other former journalists: Gary Coull, as head of the dealing room, and Malcolm Surry, as head of research. All three had worked at the South China Morning Post; neither Coull nor Surry had any experience in brokering.

The following year, Crédit Lyonnais acquired Alexander Laing & Cruickshank and, after various iterations, Walker’s start-up emerged in 1989 as Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia). Relations with the French giant – which was about to be engulfed by a series of major financial scandals – soon became ‘impossible’, according to Coull, and he and Walker resigned. They were persuaded to return in exchange for a 35% stake in the company and guarantees of independence.

In 2003 Crédit Lyonnais, including CLSA, was acquired by Crédit Agricole, France’s largest retail banking group, and CLSA remained part of Crédit Agricole until 2012. That year, Crédit Agricole sold a 19.9 percent stake to the Chinese firm CITIC Securities.[3] On July 31, 2013, CITIC Securities acquired the remaining 80.1% of CLSA from Crédit Agricole and CLSA became wholly owned by Citic Securities.

Controversies that have hit the firm include the Securities and Futures Commission reprimand in May 2004; Asiamoney “vote-rigging” email in 2005; and Allen Lam insider-trading conviction in July 2009[4][5][6]

With headquarters in Hong Kong, CLSA has over 2,000 staff located in 21 cities across Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States.

In 2018, around 1,500 CEOs and CFOs from more than 570 corporations attended CLSA Forums to present to and meet with more than 1,900 institutional investors around the globe, while almost 5,200 private meetings were held.