After half a year, there have been new developments in the change of the second largest shareholder of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund. On February 8th, the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission showed that the change of shareholders holding more than 5% of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund has obtained regulatory approval, which also means that the change of shareholders of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund is about to be completed. Subsequently, after ICBC Credit Suisse submitted the company's shareholders' meeting for approval of the revision of the articles of association, and completed related work such as enterprise change registration, the shareholder status of Credit Suisse will officially take effect. Trillion-dollar mutual fund giant welcomes new second largest shareholder The website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission showed on February 8th the approval of the change of shareholders holding more than 5% of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Management Co., Ltd., with UBS AG being approved to become a shareholder holding more than 5% of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund; there were no objections to UBS AG legally undertaking 40 million RMB investment in ICBC Credit Suisse Fund (accounting for 20% of registered capital). The regulatory agency pointed out that ICBC Credit Suisse Fund and all shareholders should handle business registration changes and other related matters in a timely manner in accordance with regulations, improve the company's governance structure, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the company and fund shareholders. Due to the absorption and merger of the shareholder parties, ICBC Credit Suisse welcomes a change in shareholders. Here is the timeline: On May 31, 2024, UBS completed the absorption and merger of Credit Suisse and assumed all the rights and obligations of Credit Suisse, including Credit Suisse's 20% equity in ICBC Credit Suisse. In August of the same year, ICBC Credit Suisse officially submitted the application materials for changing minority shareholders to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and under the guidance of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, submitted two rounds of supplementary materials. The China Securities Regulatory Commission officially accepted the application in early December. On February 7th of this year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission officially approved the application for ICBC Credit Suisse to change minority shareholders. Next, after ICBC Credit Suisse submits the company's shareholders' meeting for approval of the revision of the articles of association, and completes related work such as enterprise change registration, UBS's shareholder status will officially take effect. Therefore, after Credit Suisse is merged and absorbed by UBS, the external shareholder of ICBC Credit Suisse will change from Credit Suisse to UBS, and this change in shareholders is not a result of an active transfer of shares. Public information shows that ICBC Credit Suisse is a state-owned holding fund company, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China holding 80% of the equity and Credit Suisse holding 20% of the equity. After the change in ownership, the ownership structure will not be changed. It is worth noting that Credit Suisse has not stationed management personnel in ICBC Credit Suisse and does not participate in the company's daily operations. According to informed sources, this change in shareholders will not have a substantial impact on the company's daily operations. ICBC Credit Suisse Fund stated that it will continue to strengthen cooperation with both shareholders and leverage the advantages of resources from both Chinese and foreign shareholders to further build a first-class investment institution. In addition, regarding the renaming issue of concern to the public, the company has not provided further information. However, it is speculated within the industry that generally, changes in major shareholder ownership will lead to adjustments in subsidiary names. The name "ICBC Credit Suisse Fund" may become a thing of the past. UBS holds equity in two domestic mutual funds UBS has been early in deploying its business in China, with investments in China for over 30 years. According to the official website of UBS Group, from 1989 to the present, UBS has continued to develop, establishing a domestic platform with multiple business licenses and entities. By the end of 2024, UBS reported an annual net profit of 5.085 billion US dollars. UBS provides a wide range of onshore and offshore investment products and services, and in China's investment banking industry, UBS has always been among the top. In December 2018, UBS increased its stake in its investment banking platform, UBS Securities, to 51%, becoming the first foreign financial institution to achieve a controlling stake by increasing its stake in a mainland joint venture securities firm. The stake was later increased to 67%. UBS also entered the pursuit of domestic mutual fund licenses early. In 2005, UBS became the first foreign financial institution to hold up to 49% of the equity in a Chinese joint venture fund management company through an investment in ICBC Credit Suisse Fund. The other shareholder of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund is China Investment Corporation Taikang Trust, with a stake of 51%. By the end of 2024, the management scale of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund Company was approximately 278.7 billion RMB, with non-currency management scale of 1556.25 billion RMB, ranking 32nd and 31st in the industry, respectively. With the approval of the transfer of ownership of ICBC Credit Suisse Fund, UBS has acquired the equity of a trillion-dollar domestic mutual fund. ICBC Credit Suisse Fund is an established domestic mutual fund company that will celebrate its 20th anniversary this June. By the end of 2024, the company (including its subsidiaries) managed 254 public funds and several annuities, private equity asset management plans, with a total asset management scale exceeding 2 trillion RMB. In terms of public fund management scale, ICBC Credit Suisse Fund's public fund management scale is approximately 842.061 billion RMB, with a non-currency management scale of 404.281 billion RMB, ranking 13th in the industry. With the business adjustment, UBS has also made new arrangements in personnel. According to media reports, former UBS China Chief Executive Officer Hu Zhizhi joined UBS in mid-2024 and took over as head of UBS China in September of the same year, succeeding Qian Yujun. Hu Zhizhi had worked for Credit Suisse for over 20 years, responsible for investment banking and regional management. After joining UBS, he took on the overall responsibility for leading and promoting UBS's strategic layout and business development in China. UBS has also expressed optimism about the Chinese market recently. On January 13th, at the 25th UBS Greater China Symposium, UBS Group Chief Executive Officer Sergio P. Ermotti said, "China is an important market for UBS. Over the past 25 years, China's capital markets have made significant progress and are now the world's second-largest stock market. In the face of recent challenges, the Chinese market has demonstrated resilience and continues to provide evolving opportunities for global investors." In addition, UBS's latest research report is also optimistic about the Chinese stock market, stating that the MSCI China Index is expected to rise in the "high single-digit" range by 2025. This article is reprinted from Caijing Society, GMTEight Editor: Chen Wenfang.