Standard Chartered Eyes License for Hong Kong Virtual Bank This Year
Standard Chartered's plans for a virtual retail bank in Hong Kong are well underway, CEO Bill Winters confirmed on Tuesday. He expects the license in the next few months.
After three years of restructuring, Standard Chartered recently revealed a new strategy. One pillar is the further development of virtual banks in several growth markets.
The bank already launched such projects in India and in the Ivory Coast. Bringing this new concept to Hong Kong, one of the banks most important markets, is the next step, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters said at the 22nd Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference on Tuesday in Hong Kong.
Focusing on Affluents
«We are waiting for the license,» he added and expects to receive it «later this year». The British bank with a strong foothold across Asia wants to increase its market share in the affluent market, as Winters emphasized.
Winters also said fears over a growth slowdown in China's economy and the impact of the U.S.-China trade tensions are «receding a bit».
Opening Up of China
Earlier this week, at the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing, he said Standard Chartered plans to further expand its business in China.
«We hope to double the size of our China business over the next three years, the opportunity for us is in and around the ongoing opening-up, so we're a major player in everything that is cross-border from China to the rest of the world.»
In Hong Kong, Winters added that the opening-up has slowed-down a bit, due to the weakening of the economic outlook in China.
