Standard Chartered yesterday said it intended to bid for BankAmerica Corp's retail businesses in India, Singapore and Taiwan.
The operations, which account for about 25 per cent of BankAmerica's staff in the region, or 1,125 people, were put up for sale last month after BankAmerica's merger with Nationsbank last year.
The bank is also keen to sell its credit-card issuance operations in Taiwan, and is hoping to use the receipts from any sale to help build further its consumer businesses in Hong Kong and Macau.
Sources yesterday confirmed that Standard was intending to make a bid, after reported comments from the bank's new chief executive Rana Talwar, that an offer had already been made.
Yesterday, Mr Talwar was quoted speaking at a conference in Jaipur, India, as saying: 'We are looking at strengthening retail operations in several Asian countries . . . we have bid for BankAmerica's Taiwan, Singapore and India operations, and not for India separately.' Sources yesterday, however, suggested that a formal offer had not yet been tabled.
Standard Chartered has long said that it is keen to build up its core businesses, which include retail banking, and has been seeking opportunities as a result of the lower valuations caused by the regional financial crisis.
Mr Talwar reportedly said: 'We have invested about GBP125 million (about HK$1.6 billion) in the past four or five years in India. We are quite determined to become more effective, bigger and more efficient, and grow corporate banking, treasury and retail operations in India.' The Indian operations have proved particularly popular, and both Citibank - which is already the dominant foreign retail banking player in India - and GE Capital, part of the giant General Electric Co have been linked with the Indian retail businesses.