Citadel Securities Added Nearly 100 Jobs in Asia This Year…

Citadel Securities added nearly 100 people in Asia this year to bring its total headcount in the region to about 400, and almost half of this year's hires are based in Hong Kong, with the rest in Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. The firm is plotting further growth of its trading business in Asia, adding more people and office space, and has not put a number on the next round. The firm is also increasing its office space in Hong Kong by 40%, adding half a floor at Two International Finance Centre. For Metaintro readers in trading, engineering or sales, this guide covers where the new staff sit, which skills the firm is after, and the Hong Kong visa and licence rules that decide who can take a job there.

How Did the Asia Headcount Grow Through the Year?

The count grew through the year. By May, the firm had added more than 60 employees across Asia this year, in May Bloomberg coverage carried by Hedgeweek. Both the May count and the November count cover this year, so the later total includes the earlier hires.

Citadel Securities employs more than 1,800 people, and the region has become its second-largest revenue driver outside of the US.

Where Are the New Hires Based?

By May, Hong Kong was Citadel Securities' largest office in Asia-Pacific, and the firm had added more than 10 employees in both Singapore and Australia by May.

Hong Kong's cross-border role was also a theme at an industry forum in Hong Kong in April. There, Martin Graham, Citadel Securities' APAC head of government and regulatory policy, pointed out that Hong Kong continues to benefit from its role as both a product and regulatory bridge. At the same event, Clement Cordier, head of derivatives clearing services for Asia at HSBC, gave the figure that Northbound Stock Connect trading into China rose 42% year-on-year in 2025.

Rivals are expanding too. Competition has been intensifying as peer Jane Street is growing its footprint in Hong Kong alongside other quant-driven funds.

The talent base here in Asia is transforming from one that is largely technical to one that's a healthy mix of technical talent as well as sales and trading, chief executive Peng Zhao said, according to the Bloomberg report on Yahoo Finance.

What Kinds of Roles Is Citadel Securities Filling in Asia?

The mix is widening beyond pure technology. The firm is also increasing its recruitment of sales and trading professionals alongside its existing technology-focused workforce. Earlier in the year, Asia-Pacific head Vikesh Kotecha said the company will continue to focus on recruiting researchers, engineers and traders, drawing on Hong Kong's pool of finance and technology staff.

Senior hiring has run alongside. The firm has been making high-profile hires from banks and hedge funds, and it tapped former Millennium India CEO Prakash Subramanian KV as country head of India and Singapore, and hired Richard Smerin as global head of structured products from Morgan Stanley. By September 2025, Savio Joseph had joined as head of APAC institutional equity and equity derivative sales, a newly created role. He had spent the last 14 years at UBS in Hong Kong.

Mainland China is a separate thread. Before the Joseph hire, Kotecha had said the firm was applying for a securities license in the region and was looking to hire local talent, and by September 2025 it had made multiple hires in China, albeit at a more junior level.

What Is Driving the Push Beyond Headcount?

Zhao tied the push to client demand. "As we continue to grow our client business outside the US, there's going to be increasing demand to trade non-US products and readiness on our side," he said.

Bank partnerships are part of the plan. The firm is looking to partner with local and global banks to do more trading in Asia Pacific, and Zhao expects "more partnerships with local and global banks here in Asia."

Large-order trading is a newer line. The firm officially launched its so-called high-touch equity trading this year to handle large orders of US stocks for institutional investors, and Zhao said the number of active clients doubled from the first half to the second half of the year. Those orders frequently require human intervention to keep costs down and minimize market impact.

Asia is a separate question for that service. For a similar, block-size offering in markets including Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Zhao's answer is that it wouldn't follow the same business model if the firm were to launch one, and he added that "The combination of size of the market, market structure and client demand is going to dictate how we prioritize" plans moving forward.

How Has the Hong Kong Office Grown Over the Years?

Citadel set up operation in Hong Kong in 2005, and Citadel Securities arrived four years later. The trading giant founded by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin has been investing heavily in its regional franchise.

The office has expanded before. In a 2022 expansion, market maker Citadel Securities took up a similarly sized 42nd floor in the tower, while the hedge fund Citadel leased the 59th floor in premium office tower Two IFC, adding 22,000 square feet.

The firm also launched a structured-product business based in Hong Kong, adding to its core work of matching buyers and sellers across the world in the US equity and fixed-income markets.

Can You Move to Hong Kong for Finance Work Without a Job Offer?

You can apply without one. Under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, applicants are not required to have secured an offer of employment in the HKSAR upon application if they meet normal immigration requirements and fit one of three categories:

Category A: people with annual income reaching HK$2.5 million or above, or its equivalent in foreign currency (about US$320,000 at the band of HK$7.75-7.85 to one US dollar), in the year immediately before the application.
Category B: degree graduates of the eligible universities with at least three years of work experience over the past five years immediately preceding the date of application.
Category C: degree graduates of the eligible universities in the past five years with less than three years of work experience, subject to an annual quota allotted on a first-come, first-served basis. Category C does not apply to those non-local students who have obtained the undergraduate qualification in a full-time and locally-accredited programme in the HKSAR.

Annual income for Category A means taxable employment or business income including salary, allowances, stock options and profits from self-owned companies, and income from personal investment is not counted. Eligible universities come from a list compiled by the Labour and Welfare Bureau, based on lists that include the top 100 universities/institutions in four designated world university rankings.

The TTPS does not apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), and approval of applications is entirely discretionary. Successful applicants will normally be granted an initial stay of 36 months (Category A) / 24 months (Categories B and C). Processing normally takes four weeks once all documents and the fee arrive. To extend, you must prove you have taken up employment in the HKSAR with a stable income, or that you have set up or joined a business there.

The TTPS seeks to attract top talents with rich work experience and good academic qualifications from all over the world to explore opportunities in Hong Kong, according to the Immigration Department's TTPS page.

What Visa Covers You Once a Hong Kong Employer Makes an Offer?

The route for hired professionals is the General Employment Policy. It is open to people who possess special skills, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in the HKSAR, and the GEP is quota-free and non-sector specific.

An application may be favourably considered if all of these are met:

there is no security objection and no known record of serious crime for the applicant
the applicant has a good education background, normally a first degree in the relevant field, though in special circumstances good technical qualifications, proven professional abilities or relevant experience and achievements supported by documents may be accepted
there is a genuine job vacancy
the applicant has a confirmed offer of employment in a job relevant to their qualifications or experience that cannot be readily taken up by the local work force
the remuneration package including income, accommodation, medical and other fringe benefits is broadly commensurate with the prevailing market level for professionals in Hong Kong

The GEP does not apply to Chinese residents of the Mainland or to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and Korea (Democratic People's Republic of). Chinese residents of the Mainland who are not non-local graduates but possess special skills, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in the HKSAR may apply to come to work under the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, and approval of applications is entirely discretionary. GEP processing also normally takes four weeks after the department has every document and the fee.

Do Trading and Sales Roles in Hong Kong Need an SFC Licence?

Roles that carry on regulated activity do. The Securities and Futures Commission acts as the gatekeeper of standards for individuals and corporations seeking to enter the securities and futures markets of Hong Kong. A full licensed representative is an individual who is granted a licence to carry on regulated activities for the licensed firm they are accredited to, and they must meet a fit and proper test covering financial status or solvency, qualifications or experience, ability, and reputation, character, reliability and financial integrity.

The competence criteria cover academic / professional qualifications, relevant industry experience, a recognised industry qualification or Extra CPT, and a local regulatory framework paper. The SFC will only grant licences to individuals if they will come to Hong Kong to carry on regulated activities for the firm they are accredited to.

Overseas staff on short postings have a separate path. The SFC may grant a temporary licence to an individual who is regulated by a relevant overseas regulatory body for a period not exceeding three months, and no individual is granted temporary licences for more than six months in total within any period of 24 months. The extra conditions, including a similar role overseas, accreditation to a licensed firm in the same group and the list of permitted activities, are set out on the SFC licensing page.

An applicant for a representative licence can also apply for a provisional licence, which the SFC may grant before the full licence is decided. The conditions are on the same SFC page.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

This is a hiring story with the big number already behind it. The headcount figure counts people added in Asia this year, and the firm has given no figure for further hires while it adds office space and looks to partner with local and global banks. Candidates who pair technical skills with sales or trading experience fit the healthy mix of technical talent as well as sales and trading that Zhao described.

For candidates outside Hong Kong, the visa question comes first. Graduates of eligible universities and high earners can apply under the TTPS without an offer if they fit one of its three categories, and people with a confirmed offer can apply under the GEP if they meet all of its tests, both set out above. If the role carries on regulated activity, plan early for the SFC competence criteria, which include a local regulatory framework paper.

Other hires this year are working out of offices in Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, so a Hong Kong move is not the only way in. Readers weighing the city can compare this with how AI and imported talent shrank Hong Kong's worker gap, and with the APAC finance hiring surge earlier in the year. Quant candidates can brush up with this guide to the quantitative skills employers want.

Lacey Kaelani, Metaintro's CEO, puts it this way: When a trading firm's CEO describes its team as shifting toward sales and trading, believe it. Show both on your resume, and line up your visa and licence plan before the recruiter calls.