“No technology, no finance”. The digital transformation of the securities industry has accelerated, and financial technology is changing from service business to leading business and enabling business. According to incomplete statistics by the reporter of Securities Daily, at present, 22 listed securities companies have disclosed the information technology investment in 2021, with a total investment of 14.178 billion yuan, and each securities company has invested more than 100 million yuan.
continue to increase investment in information technology
Since the release of the information technology investment index of securities companies, the securities industry has paid more and more attention to information technology, and the industry information technology investment has increased year by year. From 2017 to 2020, the securities industry invested 84.5 billion yuan in information technology, laying a solid foundation for the digital transformation and high-quality development of the securities industry. From the information technology investment in the securities industry disclosed in 2021, the cumulative investment in recent five years is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan.
Many securities companies have regarded financial technology as one of their core competitiveness and continue to increase investment in information technology. Up to now, 22 listed securities companies have disclosed the information technology investment in 2021, and the head securities companies have relatively large investment due to their strong capital strength. Among them, Huatai Securities Co.Ltd(601688) , China International Capital Corporation Limited(601995) , China Merchants Securities Co.Ltd(600999) , Haitong Securities Company Limited(600837) , China Securities Co.Ltd(601066) the investment in information technology exceeded 1 billion yuan, which were 2.228 billion yuan, 1.346 billion yuan, 1.192 billion yuan, 1.176 billion yuan and 1.093 billion yuan respectively. There are also five securities companies that have invested more than 500 million yuan in information technology, namely Gf Securities Co.Ltd(000776) (985 million yuan), Orient Securities Company Limited(600958) (875 million yuan), Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co.Ltd(000166) (828 million yuan), Zhongtai Securities Co.Ltd(600918) (808 million yuan), and China Industrial Securities Co.Ltd(601377) (764 million yuan).
Huatai Securities Co.Ltd(601688) as the leader in the field of financial technology in the industry, by the end of 2021, its “rising music fortune” had 11.02 million monthly active users and 65.32 million cumulative downloads Huatai Securities Co.Ltd(601688) ceo Zhou Yi said that the “two wheel drive” development strategy of wealth management and institutional services enabled by science and technology has provided a strong driving force for the company to break the situation in the industry.
In 2021, the above 22 listed securities companies increased their investment in information technology, and the investment in information technology of Chinalin Securities Co.Ltd(002945) , Central China Securities Co.Ltd(601375) , China Industrial Securities Co.Ltd(601377) , China International Capital Corporation Limited(601995) increased by more than 40% year-on-year. Among them, Chinalin Securities Co.Ltd(002945) ‘s investment in information technology increased the most, reaching 347 million yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 293.78%. The reporter learned that Chinalin Securities Co.Ltd(002945) not only built a technology finance team and a flat Internet enterprise structure, but also launched an assessment system matching the Internet strategy. In February this year, Chinalin Securities Co.Ltd(002945) transferred 100% equity of Wenxing online and applied for the establishment of an information technology subsidiary.
Under the new classification and evaluation index system of securities companies, the proportion of information technology investment in operating income of many listed securities companies last year is also increasing. According to the incomplete statistics of the reporter, up to now, Chinalin Securities Co.Ltd(002945) last year, the investment in information technology accounted for the highest proportion of the operating revenue of the previous year, 25.17%. In addition, securities companies whose information technology investment accounted for more than 10% of the operating revenue of the previous year also included Huatai Securities Co.Ltd(601688) (13.95%), China International Capital Corporation Limited(601995) (11.96%), Central China Securities Co.Ltd(601375) (11.16%), Zhongtai Securities Co.Ltd(600918) (10.05%).
Talents are the key to the digital transformation of financial institutions. In terms of staffing, the number of information technology personnel in China Merchants Securities Co.Ltd(600999) , China Securities Co.Ltd(601066) and China Securities Co.Ltd(601066) exceeds 1000, accounting for the top two in the total number of employees, both exceeding 9%.
Boston Consulting said that the concept and awareness of digital transformation in the securities industry has been basically in place, and a consensus has been reached on the importance and urgency of transformation. However, with the deepening of transformation, many problems such as unclear objectives of digital transformation, insufficient release of digital value, weak digital foundation and scarcity of digital talents are gradually exposed, and there are still great challenges in the future.
information security is the top priority
As a window for direct “dialogue” with customers and a trading tool for investors, the operation and maintenance of securities trading system is the top priority of securities companies’ online business. At present, securities companies have many phased problems in the construction of information system, and information security incidents occur from time to time.
Taking China Merchants Securities Co.Ltd(600999) as an example, although it ranks in the forefront of the industry in terms of information technology investment and staffing, it has not been able to get rid of the trouble of information security incidents. On March 14, China Merchants Securities Co.Ltd(600999) posted a hot search on Weibo due to system transaction problems. On April 2, Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau ordered China Merchants Securities Co.Ltd(600999) to take corrective measures. Upon investigation, China Merchants Securities Co.Ltd(600999) in the network security incident on March 14, 2022, there were some problems, such as imperfect change management, untimely and inadequate emergency disposal, etc. Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau said that the company should further strengthen the overall planning of the construction of important information systems, fully understand the system architecture and internal operation mechanism, strengthen the management of R & D, testing, launch, upgrading and change, and operation and maintenance, improve the emergency response mechanism, ensure the professional ability and quantity allocation of personnel in key positions, and ensure the safe and stable operation of the information system.
On April 7, Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau took regulatory measures to order capital securities to make corrections. After investigation, the centralized trading system of capital securities was partially interrupted on May 18, 2021, affecting the trading time for about 20 minutes. This event reached the standard of major information security events. According to the investigation of Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, it was found that the relevant personnel of the Information Technology Department of capital securities deleted the relevant logs and database information during the emergency disposal process and did not backup it, which always made it impossible to determine the real cause of the information security incident. Capital Securities did not truthfully report the improper emergency treatment in the first report.
In order to further standardize the reporting and accountability of network security incidents in the securities and futures industry, the CSRC revised the measures for the reporting, investigation and handling of information security incidents in the securities and futures industry. The measures for the reporting, investigation and handling of network security incidents in the securities and Futures Industry issued in June 2021 showed that after network security incidents occurred in core institutions and operating institutions, they should report in a timely, accurate and complete manner, without delay, omission Lie or conceal.
At present, the business development of the securities industry has been highly online. Securities companies have made a lot of efforts and invested a lot of money in the construction of online systems, but they should continue to pay high attention to information security.
