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Squeezed banks take fight to China

Submitted by cahn on 27 October, 2008 - 1:13pm

Singapore's United Overseas Bank, losing ground at home as HSBC Holdings and Citigroup expand, is seeking growth in China. Its biggest competitors there: HSBC and Citigroup.

"I'm not sure what advantages Singapore banks have," said Ho Kok Hua, fund manager at APS Asset Management in Singapore. "The opportunities in China are overblown. Competition is going to be very intense, and profitability will be a problem for most."

Even as China gives foreign investors more market access after joining the World Trade Organisation last year, its 1.3 billion consumers and rising incomes do not guarantee quick profits for banks. HSBC, the largest foreign lender in China, has nine branches, compared with 28,000 for the No 1 domestic bank. United Overseas has five.

Singapore banks will have to fight bigger rivals for market share in China, where 181 foreign lenders already operate, according to the central bank.

http://biz.scmp.com/bizchina/ZZZWPF6M5AD.html

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What did I say then?

Citigroup's Margolies to go it alone | FT

Submitted by cahn on 19 July, 2004 - 6:53pm

Ross Margolies, who runs $3.25bn for Citigroup in three different hedge funds, is quitting the bank this summer to set up his own hedge fund business.

The venture, yet to be named, is expected to be running by October.

Mr Margolies and his 50-strong team will still manage $3.25bn for the bank and have also made an arrangement to provide the bank with a "material" slice of future capacity in the new venture. The plan is to raise more assets in the coming months and set up new hedge fund products.

Mr Margolies, who runs arbitrage and equity strategies, joins the growing numbers of bankers who are quitting Canary Wharf and Wall Street to set up their own businesses in the fast-growing hedge funds sector.

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