GE Money, the financial arm of US conglomerate General Electric, suffered yet another setback in its efforts to build a profitable Asian business, after it agreed to sell out its car and personal loans business in Singapore.
Standard Chartered agreed to buy the business, which is worth about S$2.35 billion (HK$14.25 billion).
When GE Money first set foot in the region, it had ambitions of growing into a financial power to rival the likes of Citigroup and HSBC. But in 2008, it stopped offering mortgages, car finance and loans in Australia. In December 2008, it said that it would stop writing new mortgages and cease other lending in Hong Kong.
Lisa Farrugia, GE Capital's spokeswoman for Southeast Asia, said GE made the decision to shift its overall investment focus to industrial areas such as energy, infrastructure and technology. She added that Asia remained a key growth engine for GE Capital, as it served more than 15 million consumers and businesses in 10 markets across the region.
Asia's retail banking sector, particularly Hong Kong, has been a tough market. Lenders such as Chase Manhattan and Bank of America both withdrew after attempts to establish retail banking business in the city.
'It's hard for foreign banks to crack the Hong Kong market because of the competition,' Louis Tse Ming-kwong, director of VC Brokerage, said. 'The first thing they face is fighting an uphill battle against banks like HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.'
China has also proved a tough nut for non-Asian players.