Barclays to continue to focus on Asia - Khanna
(8 May 2017 – Asia) Asia remains a core market for Barclays according to its Asia Pacific co-head Jaideep Khanna.
Speaking to the Nikkei Asian Review, the bank’s regional co-head said: "We restructured our Asian business to focus more closely on four markets, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and India," Khanna said.
"The reason why we did it was because we believe the Asian opportunity is large, but in the current environment it is important for us to be more focused on the markets where we have critical mass, and where we believe we can grow."
He added that the British bank is looking at ways in which to expand in these markets where as it scales back operations in others in the region including South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia.
"Where we will grow, we will grow in the businesses that we already have. We have a strong global markets business. We have a corporate finance advisory business, and the capital markets business. These businesses will grow," he said. "We are here in Asia, we want to grow in Asia, and it is a core market for us."
Khanna sees Asia a region for "intrinsic growth," however, highlighted that the bank's target in the region was a result of being "client focused."
“If you think about our key global clients, the large multinationals housed in the US and the UK, they look to Asia for growth opportunities and business opportunities," Khanna said. "To be able to follow them into markets and serve them in markets where they have interest is very important for us."
"The proposition that we offer is a very deep understanding of the US market," Khanna said.
"We acquired the Lehman business in 2008 and have grown that today as an investment bank. We are among the top five, and a very solid US franchise, both across advisory M&A [and] capital markets, and the quality of that platform is of great value to our Asian customers."
"The strategy is consistent across all of the geographies in Asia Pacific ... If you have a large borrowing requirement in Hong Kong, HSBC or maybe Standard Chartered is probably a better bet. But if you are looking for insights into the UK and US, you come to Barclays, and Barclays has something that it can offer."