Westpac to step up Asian expansion

Westpac is ramping up its wholesale banking presence in Asia a key growth area for the bank as Australia becomes more integrated with the region.

Australia’s second-largest lender is seeking to hire as many as 100 employees per year in Asia over the next three years, maintaining the region’s revenue growth at 33%, similar to that of 2013.

“We have started building a really solid business across Asia,” David Koh, Westpac's head of corporate and institutional banking in Asia, told FinanceAsia. “If you look at the long-standing trade flows out of Australia into Asia China in particular those have been growing at a double-digit pace...