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Recently, a warning letter from the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau landed on Century Securities. Within the year, this mid-sized brokerage has repeatedly received penalty notices from the CSRC and local securities regulatory bureaus, with current senior executives including the general manager overseeing private asset management and the chief information officer directly named. From the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau's order for corrective measures in July to the CSRC's warning letter regarding its sponsorship business, regulatory accountability has covered multiple business lines including private asset management and information systems.
Behind these penalties, Century Securities' operational structure is under dual pressure. On one hand, asset management scale has surged from near zero to tens of billions of yuan, yet fee rates continue to decline. On the other, equity investment banking remains nearly blank, with not a single IPO completed throughout 2025. Against the backdrop of accelerating industry consolidation and strengthening head-player effects, Century Securities is bearing the dual pressure of compliance rectification and business breakthrough.
Dense Penalties Land Throughout the Year, Executives Repeatedly Named
On September 4, the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau published an administrative regulatory measure decision. Xiao Ganming, during his tenure as head of Century Securities' Wenzhou Baili West Road branch, was issued a warning letter for failing to comply with relevant professional conduct standards, and the measure was recorded in the securities and futures market integrity archive. According to public reports, Xiao Ganming joined Century Securities in 2010, long engaged in brokerage business marketing, and was promoted to branch head at the end of 2025, serving less than eight months. The measure targeted an individual, with the violation described in catch-all terms and specific circumstances not further disclosed.
Prior to that, on July 10, the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau imposed corrective measures on Century Securities, noting problems in its private asset management business including incomplete systems, inadequate investment and trading management, insufficient compliance and risk control, and deficient personnel management, as well as weaknesses in information system management and cybersecurity protection regarding risk monitoring and early warning, system access controls, and risk reporting. On the same day, company general manager Li Jianming, who oversees private asset management, and chief information officer Lin Yongfeng were each issued warning letters.
On July 31, the CSRC issued another warning letter to Century Securities, finding problems in its sponsorship business including lax quality control and internal review, and non-compliant compensation management, violating provisions including Article 31 of the Measures for the Administration of Securities Issuance and Listing Sponsorship Business. The company was required to strengthen internal control of its investment banking business and conduct internal accountability for responsible personnel. Directly naming and warning a sitting general manager is rare in the securities industry within a year. Public information shows that Li Jianming previously worked at China Construction Bank, PICC Asset Management, and Everbright Securities Asset Management, joined Century Securities in the fourth quarter of 2019, and became general manager in May 2023. During his tenure, the company's asset management scale broke through 50 billion yuan from near zero, with the asset management line contributing nearly 30% of revenue.
Beyond the penalty notices, key positions are also undergoing adjustments. The company's bond annual report shows that the chief risk officer position was vacant for about half a year, with Huang Jian assuming the role and concurrently serving as compliance director upon arrival in June 2025; former chief information officer Wang Yufeng departed in July 2025. The company has not yet publicly responded to the above regulatory measures.
Asset Management Grows Without Revenue Gains, Equity Investment Banking Under Pressure
Public information shows that Century Securities traces its origins to Jiangxi Provincial Securities Company, established in 1990. In July 2001, approved by the CSRC, the company increased capital and expanded shares, changed its name, and relocated its registered address to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Currently registered capital stands at 4 billion yuan, with over 50 branches nationwide.
The 2026 semi-annual report shows the company achieved operating revenue of 825 million yuan and net profit of 224 million yuan in the first half, up 35.30% and 94.19% year-on-year respectively, with half-year net profit already exceeding the full year of 2025. However, profit growth mainly came from proprietary trading driven by market conditions, and improvement in revenue structure remains不明显. At the end of 2025, the company's asset management scale reached 54.313 billion yuan, up 40.39% year-on-year, but full-year asset management fee income was 338 million yuan, actually down 3.84% year-on-year. The divergence between scale and revenue means new management scale mainly came from low-fee fixed-income products. Based on year-end scale, the unit management fee rate has dropped from about 0.91% the previous year to 0.62%. This trend continued in 2026, with the semi-annual report showing asset management scale exceeding 60 billion yuan by end-June, but first-half net asset management fee income of 147 million yuan, down another 9.58% year-on-year, which the company attributed to reduced performance fee extraction from fixed-income products under a low interest rate environment.
The investment banking business structure is even more concentrated. In 2025, the company's net investment banking income was 94.1674 million yuan, of which sponsorship business net income was only 1.7925 million yuan, underwriting business 75.3902 million yuan, and financial advisory business 16.9848 million yuan. Full-year lead-underwritten bond projects (including asset securitization) totaled 42, up 133.33% year-on-year, with underwriting scale of 13.596 billion yuan, up 125.32% year-on-year, but in equity financing only completed one small fast-track directional issuance and one NEEQ listing project, with no IPO lead-underwriting projects completed.
Entering 2026, the investment banking segment has not yet明显 recovered, with first-half operating revenue of 27.8086 million yuan, down 36.92% year-on-year, and gross margin of -2.74%, in a loss-making state. The company attributed this mainly to delayed payment collection on some projects and revenue not being recognized within the expected timeframe. During the reporting period, the company completed one refinancing project raising 227 million yuan, with another refinancing project passing exchange review and awaiting registration, and landed its first low-carbon transition corporate bond and first data asset ABS, achieving some breakthroughs in project reserves, though revenue contribution remains to be realized.
As of end-March 2026, the company's total assets stood at 23.986 billion yuan, up about 54% from 15.544 billion yuan at end-2023, while net assets during the same period only grew from 5.546 billion yuan to 5.980 billion yuan. Correspondingly, the risk coverage ratio dropped from 327.01% at end-2023 to 247.34% at end-March 2026, the capital leverage ratio fell from 37.07% to 29.12%, and the liquidity coverage ratio retreated from a high of 578.81% at end-2024 to 220.54%. The semi-annual report shows that as of end-June 2026, the company's total assets further increased to 24.352 billion yuan, with net assets of 6.120 billion yuan. Of the approximately 2.57 billion yuan in asset growth in the first half, about 2.38 billion yuan came from liability expansion, with the debt-to-asset ratio rising to about 74.9%, and short-term financing payables growing 54% from the beginning of the year to 1.270 billion yuan, indicating the trend of leveraged expansion continues.
Against the backdrop of accelerating industry consolidation and strengthening head-player effects, the model of mid-sized brokerages relying on scale expansion and project proliferation to sustain growth is being tested. At the end of 2025, the company proposed a strategic positioning to build a boutique investment bank in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Asset management and investment banking were originally its key levers for differentiated breakthrough, yet both have now exposed compliance shortcomings. Whether subsequent rectification can be implemented, whether asset management fee rates can stabilize, and whether equity investment banking can truly open up will determine the next chapter for this mid-sized brokerage.
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