New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. will open three branches in India, even as global competitors HSBC and UBS are scaling back to cut costs and bolster capital. JPMorgan is witnessing an increasing level of cross-border activity among its clients as they capture more business driven by India’s economic growth, Madhav Kalyan, chief executive of the bank’s Indian unit, said.
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, granted approval to open the outlets in the capital New Delhi, in Devanahalli, Bangalore where the international airport is located, and in Paranur, near Chennai, where the banks will provide existing products and services including cash management, trade finance and foreign-currency payments, The bank already has one branch in Mumbai, which opened in 1994, reports Blomberg.
“We’ve been very careful in selecting these locations,” given Chennai’s status as a manufacturing hub and Bangalore’s standing as an information-technology center, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Asia-Pacific CEO of JPMorgan’s global corporate bank, said in a phone interview. “We have a number of clients in both locations. The target market in our wholesale business is very clear, which is very different from retail,” Aurangzeb added.
