NAIROBI: US bank JPMorgan Chase and Co has announced its intentions to start operations in Kenya to exclusively serve multinational companies and big institutions. This is the second attempt by the American bank to set camp in Kenya after it was denied entry two years ago by regulators.
The New York-based lenders chief executive Jamie Dimon said the bank will focus on specific clients rather than target the retail space. “The bank will target multinational companies and the biggest institutions in the Kenya market,” Mr Dimon told Bloomberg Television.
According to financial news agency Bloomberg.com, the bank wants to increase presence in African countries to spur growth, even after regulators in Ghana and Kenya refused the lender licenses to start operations.
In 2012, the Central Bank of Kenya granted the US bank an approval-in-principle and said in its annual bank supervision report that processing for final authorisation was at an advanced stage.
Kenya Airways is one of the American bank’s clients in planes financing deal with Citigroup. In addition, JP Morgan Chase managed the government’s $2 billion Eurobond debut last year.
The bank may open a representative office in the country which has mandate to sign financing deals for its parent company, but without authority to collect deposits from the public.
Other international banks running representative offices in Kenya include, Central Bank of India, Bank of Kigali, Bank of China, FirstRand Bank, Nedbank and Indian Banks and Financial Services company HDFC Bank.
