Singapore 21/06/2016 - Hong Kong futures brokerage Bands Financial, founded by base metal industry veterans John Browning and Tiger Shi, is expanding operations in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Browning and Shi are looking to establish Bands Risk Management in Hong Kong and Bands (Shanghai) Investment in the Shanghai free trade zone by the end of September, Browning told FastMarkets.
The former will focus on trading and financing and the latter on asset management. Futures brokerage business will continue to be undertaken by Bands Financial, which is regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.
The two new companies will sit alongside Bands Financial under holding company Bands Unified Ltd. Shi and Browning are the managing directors of all the companies.
"From the outset we had always planned to develop a suite of financial services under the Bands umbrella," Browning said.
Bands Financial obtained its futures brokering licence in Hong Kong in October last year and executed its first trade in November.
"In the past six months we are 30 percent up on our budget," Browning said.
The company's clients are currently focused on agriculture, oil, currencies and stock indices futures, with metals making up less than 10 percent of client activity.
Chinese investor interest in base metal futures has declined relative to other futures products given the trend of diversification away from commodities while the volatility in the Shanghai stock market has prompted considerable interest in stock indices and currencies, Browning told FastMarkets in an interview late last year.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)