JB Financial Group said Monday it has launched a brokerage unit through its newly acquired Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities, a midsized brokerage firm headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. It has changed the company name to JB Securities Vietnam as part of a move to officially start operations, the group added. 

Earlier in April, the banking group paid for its 100 percent stake in MSGS -- previously owned by global investment bank Morgan Stanley -- and recently received final approval from financial authorities in Vietnam for changing the company name. 

Branded as JBSV, the new affiliate had been incorporated as a subsidiary of the group’s commercial banking arm Kwangju Bank based in South Jeolla Province. The Vietnam-based brokerage firm will offer various investment opportunities regarding real estate and infrastructure development in Vietnam to both domestic and foreign investors. The company is also designed to provide Vietnamese companies with services like arranging corporate bond issuances or mergers and acquisitions.

“Through the new brokerage unit, we will beef up investment banking services in Vietnam in an effort to diversify our revenue stream,” said JBSV CEO Kim Doo-yoon. “(JBSV) is expected to serve as an impetus to the group’s entry into Vietnam’s financial market.”

By Choi Jae-hee (cjh@heraldcorp.com)