Banks get into gear
The spectre of the crisis still
looms large over the minds of bankers in the region. In a survey
carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (see Too much regulation
worries Asian banks), bankers in Asia were more concerned with
excessive regulation and a potential increase in capital
requirements from central banks trying to stave off a similar
crisis in the future than their counterparts in the other
regions.
While the report attributes this concern to
the tendency for Asian banks to over-comply, the cost of compliance
and reporting has undoubtedly gone up with the increased number of
regulatory mandates in the last 12-18 months.
Having said that, it is clear that banks the
region are already warming up their engines to expand and acquire
as markets in Asia recover faster from the chill that set upon the
economies worldwide last year.
State Bank of India has set ambitious annual
growth targets of 25 percent, DBS’ new CEO is on the hunt for
acquisitions to build a pan-Asian bank (see New CEO unveils his
plans) while Bank of China now has 300 clients in its newly
set-up private banking outfit in Switzerland and looks set to
further expand its international business (see BoC steps up
overseas focus).
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation from
India has also managed to reclaim lost ground and reversed a decade
of market share loss to private life insurers (see Private insurers
lose ground to LIC).
With both eyes on the road, the typically
conservative Asian bank is undeniably shifting into high gear to
ride on the market growth and recovery in the new year. Now to look
out for the potholes.