DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's largest bank, is looking to
tap China's renminbi wealth management market after local
incorporation, the Singapore-based bank said.
"With the setting up of the local subsidiary, and in time to
come, we hope to provide the full suite of wealth management
services to our customers in Hong Kong and Singapore, and to local
and foreign residents on the mainland," DBS spokeswoman Eunice Woo
said.
DBS and seven other financial institutions, including the Hong
Kong-based Hang Seng Bank and Singapore's Overseas-Chinese Banking
Corp, are waiting for approval from the Chinese banking authorities
for local incorporation. The authorities have granted approval to
the first batch of four overseas banks HSBC, Citigroup, Standard
Chartered and Bank of East Asia.
Local incorporation means the removal of regulatory barriers for
foreign lenders to access the mainland's US$2 trillion household
savings. It also means being put on an equal footing with domestic
banks in competing for the high-end consumer banking business, in
particular the wealth management sector.
"China is an integral part of our blueprint to build DBS into a
premier bank in Asia," Woo told China Daily. "We take a
long-term view of our investments in China and will explore any
opportunities which will help us to grow our business in
China."
The largest bank in Singapore by assets and a major bank in Hong
Kong, DBS serves corporate, institutional and retail customers
through its operations on the mainland, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand and the Philippines apart from the anchor markets of its
home country and Hong Kong.
On the mainland, the lender has been providing banking and
financial services to corporate and institutional customers since
its first Shanghai branch was set up in 1995.
DBS set up its flagship consumer banking outlet in Shanghai.
"The Shanghai Luwan sub-branch offers customers a wide range of
services in renminbi and foreign currencies, including deposit,
mortgage, exchange and remittance services," Woo said.
In December, DBS received the go-ahead from the China Banking
Regulatory Commission to offer local currency time deposits of at
least 1 million yuan to local residents.
The bank now owns 10 branches, sub-branches and representative
offices on the mainland, including those owned by DBS Bank (Hong
Kong) Limited.
(China Daily April 6, 2007)