Monday 2 November 2009

HSBC aims to increase its SME portfolio in the UAE (Interview)

A number of companies are complaining that banks are not lending despite the government's move to improve liquidity. A handful are saying banks are not acting as banks at the moment.

But John Coverdale, Group General Manager and Global Co-Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC, believes all these perceptions are far from true.

"No bank can stand still," Coverdale told Emirates Business in an exclusive interview. "It is a convenient excuse for some to perhaps say, 'well they don't want to lend'.

HSBC, he said, is open for business with those who have bankable propositions. The bank is putting emerging markets on priority and is looking at increasing its small and medium business portfolio, which forms 80 per cent of its customer base in the UAE.

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