(Bloomberg) -- CLSA Ltd. promoted Hong Kong-based staff to deputy chief executive officer positions, giving local leaders more sway following moves in recent years that saw Beijing tighten control over the brokerage.

Edward Park and James Xu became deputy chief executive officers, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Jodi Wang, the former head of human resources, was named co-chief operating officer with Xu, the people said.

CLSA Chairman Li Chunbo, a Citic Securities Co. veteran who joined CLSA as part of a restructuring of the more freewheeling unit to tie it closer to its parent company, was named CEO. A spokesperson for the firm didn’t reply to requests for comment.

The appointments that came into effect on Nov. 1 empower the Hong Kong-based employees after a prolonged exodus of staff, and may signal that the Hong Kong unit’s integration with Citic Securities, a state-owned brokerage in Beijing, is nearing completion, one of the people said.

Led by group Chairman Zhang Youjun, Citic Securities has overhauled CLSA’s senior management since he ousted long-time CEO Jonathan Slone in 2019 and most of its top management personnel followed him out the door. 

As part of that overhaul, CLSA dissolved the original executive committee, removed independent decision making and told key managers to report directly to Beijing, people familiar with the matter said earlier. The firm also moved hundreds of staff from Beijing to Hong Kong and lost more than 750 employees over the period from 2021 until early 2023, the people said earlier.

The new deputy CEOs have tenures at CLSA that pre-date the shakeup. Park, who was head of institutional equities, has been with CLSA for more than 15 years. Xu, a 14-year veteran with the firm, was head of equity derivatives and prime brokerage business as well as the retail brokerage, asset management and wealth management.

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