HSBC plans China expansion
From Asia Feb 15 2012 BY: Simon Danaher
, Online News Editor
, International Adviser
HSBC has announced plans to expand its operations in mainland China, either through significantly increasing its number of branches or by raising its stake in Bank of Communications.
HSBC bank’s chief executive Stuart Gulliver has said he hopes to either “increase the bank’s holding in BoCom, from 20%, if given regulatory approval, or increase its mainland China branch network in the medium term from 110 to about 800”.
According to an article published in the Financial Times today, Gulliver has set HSBC Hong Kong chief executive Anita Fung the task of “making this happen”. Gulliver poached Fung from Standard Chartered shortly after he joined the bank in 1994 to run its Asian markets business.
In what the FT describes as Fung’s “first big interview in her new role”, and in response to concerns about the momentum for banking reform and the country’s appetite for opening further to foreign banks, she is reported to have said: “I don’t think the momentum for reform in China is slowing.”
Fung’s mandate also includes trying to ensure HSBC is a dominant player in the Hong Kong-based offshore renminbi market.
One of few banks to have come through the financial crisis relatively unscathed, HSBC was recently named as the world’s “most valuable bank brand” for 2012, according to the Brand Banking 500 report, displacing Bank of America which held it in 2011.
The annual study, first published in 2006, incorporates data from listed companies globally, awarding ratings based on the strength, risk and future potential of brands relative to their competitors.