A pan-Asian banking presence is no longer the preserve of global titans. The financial crisis – and the subsequent wave of regulation – has forced many US and European banks to reshape their strategies, creating opportunities for Asian banks to expand. These emerging pan-Asian financial institutions are creating a patchwork of many types of regional banks in a paradigm shift away from a landscape of global banks aspiring to be ‘all things to all men’.
Clusters of bank activity are emerging in Asia, with each bank’s strategy influenced by the nature of its domestic market as well as the opportunities arising from asset purchases in the region. The domestic markets of China, India and Indonesia provide enough opportunities for the local banks within their national boundaries, while the smaller economies of Singapore and Malaysia are giving rise to regional banks that are expanding throughout south-east Asia and beyond.