ANZ aims to triple outlets on mainland to ride economic boom

ANZ aims to more than triple its outlets on the mainland in three years, after having received regulatory approval to be locally incorporated.

The fourth largest lender in Australia plans to increase the number of mainland branches and sub-branches to 20 from the current six, joining other international rivals such as HSBC, to profit from the mainland's economic boom.

The pace of ANZ's expansion will hinge on approvals by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), but Alex Thursby, the bank's chief executive for Asia-Pacific, Europe and America, is confident that the buoyant Chinese economy will be enough to support the lender's foray into the market. 'We don't want 1,000 outlets,' he told the South China Morning Post yesterday, adding that ANZ would focus on 'specific cities rather than spreading everywhere across the country'.

The Melbourne-based lender now has outlets in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. It also has received a go-ahead to open a branch in Chongqing. It made an initial investment of 2.5 billion yuan (HK$2.89 billion) on the mainland after the incorporation.

'We have a very clear focus,' Thursby said. 'Our business in the next 12 months will continue to be corporate business.'

Local incorporation on the mainland enables a foreign bank to apply for a licence to do businesses in the local currency.

Thursby said he expected ANZ to start running yuan businesses next year in what he described as a 'meaningful business' in tandem with the mainland's fast-growing economy.