CANBERRA: South-east Asia’s largest bank, Singapore’s DBS Bank, has received approval from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority to operate in Australia.
The latest foreign bank to join the Australian banking industry has been approved with an institutional license and its first branch in Sydney will open in late June. Our keen interest to establish an Australia presence is driven by increasing economic linkages between Asia and Australia.
Helen Yap, DBS Australia’s country head, will run the bank that aims to support Asian and international companies looking to expand into Australia by providing them with corporate finance, trade finance, cash management and treasury solutions. “Our keen interest to establish an Australia presence is driven by increasing economic linkages between Asia and Australia,” Ms Yap said.
“With DBS’ high credit ratings, strong capital position, comprehensive regional product platform, as well as Asian insights and experience, we believe the bank is well-positioned to serve Australian companies.”The bank has operations in 17 other markets globally. Singapore is Australia’s largest south-east Asian trade and investment partner, with the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in force since 2003.
Australia also has FTAs with other Asian countries such as China, Japan, Malaysia and Korea. Other Asian banks with a presence in Australia include Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China and India’s Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India.
