Media365
HSBC Holdings, the biggest lender in Hong Kong and Europe by assets, is committed to the Middle East and plans to plough ahead with investments despite uncertainty in the region, according to a senior executive.
Surendra Rosha, co-CEO for Asia and the Middle East, said HSBC would continue to invest in the wealth business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the coming years.
Rosha is heading to Saudi Arabia, where HSBC is the biggest overseas investment bank, next week to meet clients and staff to reiterate the business-as-usual message. HSBC reported profit before tax of US$1.09 billion in the Middle East last year, accounting for 3.6 per cent of the group’s total.
“UAE is one of our four priority markets, alongside India, China and Singapore,” said Rosha in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post on Monday, ahead of the annual HSBC Global Investment Summit, running from Tuesday to Thursday, in Hong Kong. “We will be investing in the wealth space there as part of our ongoing programme.”
He said such investment was needed as the bank’s Middle East clients were keen to allocate internationally via HSBC’s global network, noting that Hong Kong was a good platform to meet these clients’ demands for investing in Asia and other markets.
