The opening of its recent Singapore headquarters on the highest floors of the 50-story Marina Bay Financial Center Tower 2 led CEO Noel Quinn to say the city-state is a “key” marketplace for Europe’s largest bank.
“We have every ambition to significantly grow our business here in Singapore,” he said on Monday. “We know the competition is very strong.”
The London-headquartered lender also revealed that it had moved its Southeast Asian markets team, which handles rates and currencies, in addition to all accounting, to Singapore, without specifying the precise location.
Quinn is urging the bank to focus its operations on Asia, where the bank earns most of its revenue, competing each with multinational firms reminiscent of Citigroup Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc, in addition to regional lenders led by DBS Group Holdings Ltd.
The bank’s recent office is over 140,000 square feet. It employs roughly 4,000 employees, up 16% from 2019 after purchasing local insurance firms for $529 million.
According to the statement, the bank goals to double its wealth business in Singapore by 2025 and has set a goal of double-digit growth for its local business banking business.
The company has committed $6 billion in investments over five years starting in 2021, half of which can go to South and Southeast Asia. According to the bank’s 2021 annual report, its most important businesses in Asia are situated in Hong Kong (28,000 employees) and mainland China (35,000 employees).
