bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

David Evans

ABN Amro Bank's chief executive for China, Michiel de Jong, says his bank has been able to contain its exposure to mainland international trust and investment corporations (Itics) by adopting a prudent lending style.

 Mr de Jong said the Dutch bank had become known as 'the bank which asks too many questions', and while it may have lost out on lucrative deals because of its conservative attitude, it had an obligation to balance the risks against the potential return when considering its long-term strategy.

 'We generally want to know too much and as a result we actually narrowed down the number of Itics we lent to,' he said.

 'It is a balancing act but you have to remember we are not in it for the short term.'  ABN Amro Bank expects to be fully operating its Beijing commercial business by March next year after it receives its commercial licence.

 The bank is also on the list to be granted a licence for yuan business in Shanghai.

 'We are maintaining our old office on the Bund [in Shanghai] and relocating the main branch to Pudong,' Mr de Jong said.

 He said the bank had taken a long-term view when establishing itself in the mainland and was therefore following its customer base.

 'Of course every city has been very receptive to us but our strategy is to service our existing customer base and we can't do that if branches are mushrooming up all over the country,' he said.

 Mr de Jong said recent suggestions linking ABN Amro Bank to possible acquisitions of Hong Kong banks could be attributed to comments made when it recently acquired a 75 per cent stake in Bank of Asia in Thailand.

 At the time, Sergio Rial, the bank's chief executive for the Asia Pacific, said the bank still had an appetite for acquisitions in Asia.

 'We are the only bank that has made a major acquisition in Asia and we are always looking to increase our customer base and that includes through acquisition,' Mr de Jong said.

 'We believe in the market and will not purchase something just because it is cheap.' 



Prudent lending policies limit ABN Amro's exposure to Itics