HSBC Positions Russia Business For Future Growth

By Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

14 March 2008

HSBC on Wednesday re-affirmed its strategic focus on Russia with a string of new announcements designed to strengthen its growing franchise.

Stuart Lawson, a Russia expert with more than a decade's experience of running banks in Russia, has been appointed CEO designate with a mandate to accelerate HSBC's growth across the country, the bank announced.

To support this strategy, HSBC has approved an injection of USD200mn of new capital, subject to Central Bank of Russia and other local approvals. This will be used to fuel the bank's expansion plans across all business lines.

This process has already begun with the opening of three new regional representative offices in Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Saint Petersburg.

The new offices will offer corporate clients a wide range of commercial banking services, as well as access to HSBC's international network in 83 countries and territories.

Stephen Green, Group Chairman, HSBC holdings, announced that:

"Russia, along with the other BRIC countries, is a key strategic focus for the Group."

He continued: "HSBC's ambitions in Russia are exemplified by our decision to inject a significant sum of new money into the business and I've no doubt that the appointment of Stuart Lawson as new CEO will prove invaluable as we seek to grow our businesses there."

Russia, a resource-rich economy of 142 million, has the largest population in Europe. It has experienced rapid growth in recent years with GDP per head rising from less than USD2,000 in 1998 to around USD9,000 at current rates of exchange.

HSBC's presence in Russia dates back to 1918. For the last decade it has focused on providing corporate banking, treasury and advisory services to multinational and Russian corporate and institutional clients, and currently employs more than 200 people.

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