UNLIKE many foreign banks, clamouring to open more representative or branch offices in China, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has no plans to increase its exposure on the mainland.
CIBC vice-president Peter Tulloch said this unorthodox strategy was based on the belief that the bank had sufficient coverage through its representative office in Beijing, which opened in the early 1980s as a joint venture with Cheung Kong (Holdings).
''One has to decide the business merits of doing it and we feel our coverage right now gives up a dimension in China which is very suitable to the market,'' Mr Tulloch said.
He said CIBC's approach was not unique because many banks had reassessed the need for representative offices in foreign markets following the heady days of the 1980s when international expansion was a major focus.
He said such offices had to be justified because they were effectively cost centres.
As a result, CIBC was content to let its Beijing office serve as an important liaison with major institutions such as the People's Bank of China and the Bank of China.
CIBC's relationship with Cheung Kong dates back to 1974 when it established a joint venture, Canadian Eastern Finance, which was a deposit-taking company primarily involved in the real estate sector. CEF is now a restricted-licence bank.