MELBOURNE, 30 June, 2023: Australia’s ANZ Bank has become the largest Australian company to talk up its commitment to India in the wake of the recent high-level diplomacy between the two countries, the interim trade agreement and India overtaking China’s population.
During a Board visit to India this month (June 2023), chief executive Shayne Elliott revealed that his bank was earning double digit returns on equity from deploying $500 million in capital mainly to finance Indian company activity in the rest of Asia rather than at home.
That is still smaller than it has deployed in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. But Elliott said: “We’re profitable, growing business with real momentum, low risk from a customer point of view. So now we want to grow.”
ANZ is the only Australian bank with a licence in India currently despite selling out of its Grindlays subsidiary there in 2000 as part of an earlier pull back from Asia. But Elliott talked up his bank’s position now saying: “Now that the institutional bank is going well, we see more opportunity there. We will pivot more of our capital and resources to institutional – we have that optionality that other (big Australian banks) don’t have.”
ANZ calls itself the largest Australian company operating in India, ahead of others like manufacturers Bluescope and Orica, and Macquarie in investment banking. And it has 8,000 employees or 20 per cent of its workforce located there.
Meanwhile two of its competitors have also joined the push into India with National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia planning to replace external information technology suppliers with expanded full-time workforces in India.
The Australian Financial Review reported that NAB will add up to 3000 staff to its Indian operations in an offshore innovation centre outside of Delhi. CBA is looking for new premises in Bangalore to add 1500 people to its existing 3500 staff there.
The ANZ Board visit to India marks a stepping up of ANZ’s efforts to recover from the negative publicity surrounding its pull back from owning subsidiary banks in Asia, with the bank also now looking at expanded operations in China.
Source- Asia Society Australia Briefing Monthly, 30 June, 2023.