Barclays has withdrawn its retail lending operations from
India – a market the lender entered in 2007.
The retail business of Barclays is worth
approximately $1bn in assets. Barclays will continue the deposits
side of its operations and the lender does not plan to shut down
any of its 5-branch network in India.
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Barclays will also continue with its
investment banking, corporate banking and wealth management
businesses in India.
Barclays’ Indian retail expansion was
undertaken by Frits Seegers, the former chief executive of
Barclays’ global retail and commercial operations. The Barclays
expansion strategy in Asia included Indonesia and India – both
markets that the lender has now moved out of.
Daniel Hunter, head of media relations for
Barclays Corporate, told RBI,
“We concluded that even though foreign banks
have limitations on how they can grow, we would be far better off
putting resources into growing our investment banking, corporate
banking, and wealth management businesses.
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By GlobalData“It makes a lot more sense for us to leverage our strengths
instead of trying to compete as a subscale player in what is a very
large and well-entrenched market in India.”
Foreign banks in India face certain regulatory
limitations it terms of scope for growth. The size and scale of the
country also poses challenges.
In July 2010,
HSBC agreed to acquire Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) Indian retail
and commercial division.
Standard Chartered, Citigroup and HSBC are
some of the dominant foreign banks in India. Barclays’ operations
in India is headquartered in Mumbai.
