John Marshall Nicholson (Chinese: 凌瀚燊) is a Hong Kong investment banker.

Marshall Nicholson
EducationColumbia University (BS, MS)
University of Virginia (MBA)
OccupationInvestment banker
Employer(s)BOC International
China International Capital Corp
Nomura

Career

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Nicholson worked at Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan in New York City before moving to Hong Kong in 2002 to take up a position as Credit Suisse First Boston's Asia-ex-Japan head of equity capital markets.[1] In 2005, he transferred to the Macquarie Group, where he held the position of head of China equity capital markets; his hiring was part of a large recruitment drive which saw Macquarie poach Hong Kong-based ECM staff from a number of major banks.[2][3]

In January 2007, Nicholson left Macquarie, one of several senior ECM bankers resigning at the time.[4] He joined BOC International as vice-chairman of the investment banking division, one of the first senior foreign executives at any Chinese bank.[2][5] At BOCI, he served as advisor on a number of major deals, including Rusal's initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2010.[6] Nicholson's strategy after he joined involved a "build out" of the ECM business and the institutional equities franchise. In 2005, two years before he joined, BOCI led no equity offerings at all, and only seven in 2006; in 2008 through 2010, in contrast, it led sixty-five.[7][8]

In February 2012, Nicholson resigned from his post at BOCI.[9][10] He then became a managing director at China International Capital Corp, the first joint venture investment bank in China.[2] He resigned from CICC in June 2014.[11][12] In March 2015, Nicholson took a new post at Nomura's Hong Kong office as head of Asia-ex-Japan equity capital markets.[13] As of December 2017 he remained in that position.[14]

Personal life

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Nicholson did his bachelor's and master's degree in chemical engineering at Columbia University, and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.[15] He married a Hong Kong woman in 2003.[16][17]

Nicholson applied to the Hong Kong Immigration Department for naturalisation as a Chinese citizen; as the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China does not permit applicants for naturalisation to retain their former citizenships, he renounced U.S. citizenship on 12 April 2013 at the U.S. Consulate-General in Hong Kong.[16][18] Nicholson stated that he had chosen to naturalise in order to "make my situation reflect my personal and professional view of my long-term interests". Colleagues suggested his motivations included convenience of travel to mainland China in order to visit clients, since only Hong Kong residents of Chinese nationality and not other nationalities are eligible for Home Return Permits.[16] Peter Thal Larsen analysed Nicholson's choice as a career move intended to demonstrate to clients that he saw Hong Kong as his home and was not using it as a stepping-stone to opportunities in London or New York like many other expatriate bankers.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "New Marshall in town, as CSFB appoints ECM head". IFR Asia. 2002-07-19. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  2. ^ a b c "CICC Hires Bank of China's Nicholson". The Wall Street Journal. 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  3. ^ "Macquarie hires big guns". IFRA Asia. 2005-07-23. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  4. ^ "Macquarie sees further departures". IFR Asia. 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  5. ^ "BOCI hires first foreign banker". IFR Asia. 2007-01-19. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  6. ^ "American Banker Becomes Chinese National". The Wall Street Journal. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  7. ^ Espinasse, Philippe (2010-12-16). "China BOCI's ECM Head on its Long March". Dow Jones Investment Banker. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  8. ^ "中銀凌瀚燊多元投資" [BOC's Nicholson diversifies investments]. The Sun. 2010-01-30. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  9. ^ "老外banker離開中銀國際" [Foreign banker departs BOCI]. Ming Pao Finance. 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  10. ^ Thomas, Denny (2012-02-28). "BOCI head of ECM Nicholson says has resigned". Reuters. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  11. ^ Ho, Prudence (2014-06-09). "CICC Investment Banking Managing Director Resigns". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  12. ^ Jing Song (2014-06-11). "CICC loses another key executive". Finance Asia. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  13. ^ Tudor-Ackroyd, Alison (11 March 2015). "Nicholson joins Nomura as Asia ex-Japan ECM head". Finance Asia. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  14. ^ Dunkley, Emma (27 December 2017). "Hong Kong risks losing listings crown to New York". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  15. ^ "Smart Money:中銀證券凌瀚燊隨時候命" [Smart Money: BOCI's Nicholson always on standby]. Oriental Daily News. 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  16. ^ a b c Chen, George (2013-04-17). "American banker, now proud to be a Chinese national". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  17. ^ "中金凌瀚燊做埋「中國人」" [CICC's Nicholson becomes a 'Chinese person']. Oriental Daily News. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  18. ^ 秦涛 [Qin Tao] (2013-04-18). "那些年他们放弃的美国国籍" [Those years when they gave up U.S. citizenship]. Sina Finance. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  19. ^ Thal Larsen, Peter (2013-04-18). "Radical career move: become a Chinese citizen". Reuters Breakingviews. Archived from the original on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
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