We are currently taking prudent steps to expand our footprint in Asia, said HSBC executive director Peter Wong in a media briefing in Hong Kong earlier this week. As the world's economy is shifting its focus from the west to the east, we see huge potential in the Southeast Asian markets, especially in the Greater China and Indonesian regions.
In the first six months of 2009, HSBC booked a profit of $4.5 billion before tax from its businesses in Asia. In percentage terms, Asia accounted for 66% of the bank's global profits, in part attributable to a shortfall in HSBC's North America operations. Wong said that the bank expected that even after North...
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