On 24 June 2024, UBS AG (“UBS”) and Founder Securities Co., Ltd. (“Founder Securities”) entered into a three-party agreement with Beijing State-owned Assets Management Co., Ltd. (“BSAM”) for the sale of a total of 85.01% stake in Credit Suisse Securities (China) Limited (“CSS”) to BSAM. The transaction includes UBS’s sale of a 36.01% stake in CSS and Founder Securities’ sale of a 49% stake in CSS. The completion of the transaction is subject to the necessary regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

CSS was formed in 2008 as a securities joint venture in China by Credit Suisse AG (“CS”) and Founder Securities. Since June 2020, CS has held a 51% shareholding of CSS, with Founder Securities’ 49% shareholding of CSS. CS has been part of the UBS group since June 2023 and on 31 May 2024 the merger of UBS and CS was completed, crossing an important milestone.

Following the completion of the transaction, BSAM and UBS will hold 85.01% and 14.99% in CSS respectively.

Fangda served as legal counsel to UBS and Founder Securities on all aspects of the transaction and provided comprehensive legal services in transaction documents negotiation, securities and financial regulation, due diligence, antitrust and tax. The Fangda team was led by Financial Industry Group partners/of-counsel Grace Yu, Siyuan Pan, Bryan Chan and Sam Wang. Core team members included Lawrence Zhu, Veronica Yu, Hailey Zheng, Jazzy Zhou, Molly Zhu and Kloria Hao. Anti-trust partner Caroline Huang and tax partner Zhao Yan provided professional support in this transaction.