Wing Lung Bank chalks up corp banking growth

Hong Kong’s Wing Lung Bank said its corporate banking division expects to grow corporate loans 30 percent this year.

"Corporate banking has become the fastest growing business unit during the past four months," Wing Lung chief executive Zhu Qi said in a report by The Standard. "It will be our major profit contributor in the future."

Zhu added that the corporate segment may eventually be contributory to approximately 40 percent of their total revenue in the next half decade. Also vice president of Wing Lung Bank’s parent company China Merchants Bank, Zhu said, "Wing Lung Bank's strategy is to improve its lending portfolio by developing its corporate client segment, especially those with cross border needs.”

Wing Lung Bank will tap the high net-worth client base of China Merchants Bank in the mainland by focusing on retail and corporate banking, offering wealth management business to clients from both the mainland and Hong Kong. By accepting overseas assets guarantees this year, Wing Lung Bank has already loaned US$100 million to SME’s in the mainland.