Barclays to invest more than US$ 400 million to expand India operations
- IBEF
- August 27, 2021
Barclays has announced a US$ 400 million investment in its India unit in order to capitalise on increasing corporate and investment banking activity in the country, which is still recovering from the pandemic.
This is the single greatest investment in Barclays' Indian business in the previous three decades. It comes after the British lender departed Asia's third-largest economy's retail sector in 2011 and its equity investment business in 2016.
The investment would help Barclays develop its corporate and debt investment banking, as well as private client operations, the bank said on Thursday.
According to Dealogic, investment banking revenue in India has reached US$ 498 million so far this year, up from US$ 339 million in the same period last year and US$ 538 million in 2020.
According to Dealogic, Barclays leads India's debt capital market by USD bond volume, with a 14% share year-to-date. JPMorgan and Standard Chartered Bank both have a 13% market share, while HSBC has a 12% stake.
“Client demand for money is increasing as economic activity picks up,” said Mr. Jaideep Khanna, Barclays' country CEO for India.
“Last year was a banner year for India's debt capital market, especially given the lackluster performance of domestic bank lending. Global credit drew a lot of attention, and the market as a whole has been strong” S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research associate professor of finance Mr. Ananth Narayan remarked.
Barclays India's Tier-1 capital has risen by 55% as a result of the new capital infusion.
“According to central bank norms, there are limits placed on what a lender can do with respect to their balance sheet,” a source familiar with the matter said. “However, now that the bank's overall capital base has expanded, its ability to lend more has increased,” said the source, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Barclays has had a presence in India since 1990, and presently employs 600 people throughout its corporate banking operations in the country.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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