How hard would it be to create another Goldman Sachs? In turbocharged China there’s more than 100 outfits trying to accomplish this feat – and in record time too.
They are the securities brokerages, mostly created in the past 15 years. Now they have reached an uneasy adolescence, trying to keep mainly retail punters interested in China’s young, struggling stock market.
The Securities Association of China tracks 114 such companies, but most people outside China could barely name a handful. Even for those who know a bit about China’s markets, what is much less appreciated is how far these businesses are already pushing to ape the riskier activities that Western investment banks exploited readily until the financial crisis.