May 19, 2010
Foreign banks operating in China face significant regulatory, economic, IT and HR challenges. This was outlook described by Leong Wai Leng, Chairman and CEO of OCBC Bank in China, at a recent IMD Alumni Club Event presentation entitled, “The Banking and Financial Industry in China – Strategy and Outlook”, held at the Renaissance Shanghai Zhonstan Park Hotel.
China’s financial industry is a developing market, and the government plays a pivotal role in building the financial industry as a new driver for economic growth. In 2009, however, foreign banks’ local market share in China amounted to 1.7%, while the remainder was made up of Chinese banks. The situation is somewhat less extreme in Shanghai where foreign banks have 19% of market share, as opposed to the Chinese 81%. This clearly reflects the ambitions of the Shanghai city government to be a world class financial center.
Ms Leong compared foreign and local banks, looking at the challenges faced by the former, and opening the debate on whether foreign banks, especially a mid-size bank such as OCBC Bank China, can play to win in the Chinese banking Industry.
Using OCBC Bank China as an example, Ms Leong presented the “8000 miles strategy” that she has implemented to improve competitiveness. The strategy is based on eight key pillars, namely developing the brand proposition, defining the business’ value proposition, focusing on organic and inorganic growth, establishing an effective governance structure, building an operations and technology platform, aligning procedures and standards, strengthening the risk management framework and finally but very importantly, attracting and retaining the right people.
The event was attended by some 30 people consisting of both IMD Alumni and others and was both an occasion to obtain valuable insights into this critical industry and a great networking opportunity. It was organized by Kwek Ping Yong, Alumni Club President for Shanghai.
Learn more about IMD's Alumni Network.
http://www.imd.ch
