(Yicai Global) Nov. 3 -- Credit Suisse Group will continue to strengthen the Swiss investment bank’s positioning in China, with a special focus on wealth management services, as the struggling lender undergoes a major overhaul to return to profitability, the chief executive officer of the Swiss lender’s China arm told Yicai Global.

Credit Suisse expects to launch its wealth management services in China as soon as it takes full control of its joint venture securities firm in the country, which should be no later than the first quarter next year, Janice Hu said at the recent 13th China Investment Conference hosted by the Zurich-based bank.

Credit Suisse plans to acquire the remaining 49 percent equity in Credit Suisse Securities China held by partner Founder Securities to become the third foreign financial institution to wholly own a brokerage on the mainland after J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, Yicai Global reported earlier.

The bank is keen to establish a stronghold in China’s booming wealth management industry which is one of the biggest and fastest-growing in the world. China’s wealth surged 15.1 percent last year from 2020 to USD85.1 trillion, accounting for one quarter of the world’s new wealth, according to the lender’s Global Wealth Report.

Credit Suisse has already named Wang Jing, the head of its wealth management operations on the mainland, as chief executive of the JV. Wang joined Credit Suisse in 2020 and before that worked for China Merchants Bank as general manager of the private banking department.

Credit Suisse, which is rumored to be on the brink of bankruptcy, is undergoing a radical restructuring that will see it return to its original core businesses of wealth management, asset management and Swiss banking. The lender will gradually spin off non-strategic, low-return and high-risk businesses, it said on Oct. 27.

Credit Suisse has suffered losses for four consecutive quarters. Along with the reorganization, the group will raise CHF4 billion (USD4 billion) through the issuance of new shares, so as to enhance its capital adequacy ratio, it said.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor