Barclays revealed plans to expand in Asia and to beef up its private banking business in Singapore, and investment banking in Australia. The bank said it was pumping in more than USD 400 million into its India operations to help grow its corporate and investment banking businesses in the country. It is Barclays’ latest capital infusion into the country in the last 30 years. Barclays said the investment would help grow its corporate, debt investment banking, and private client businesses. To bolster its wealth management business in Singapore, Barclays recently hired senior bankers to be based in its Singapore office.
The move by Barclays to tap the rapid growth in the wealth management business in the Asia-Pacific region should not be surprising as the region has some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. With interest rates at record lows globally, the world’s top banks are looking for more fee-generating avenues and expanding into promising markets. Barclays’ London-headquartered rivals HSBC and Standard Chartered have also been stepping up their focus on Asia this year to boost growth. Barclays together with its competitors is also increasing its presence in Asia with an eye on the world’s second-largest economy, China opening its banking sector to foreign competition. Unlike peers such as UBS Group and Citigroup, Barclays current only has a small presence in China and operates through a single branch and a representative office.