Hang Seng's banker shortage may hamper China expansion

Lender will add personnel in several departments to meet its target 50 China branches.

Hang Seng Bank Ltd., the Hong Kong lender controlled by HSBC Holdings Plc, said a shortage of qualified bankers may hinder its branch expansion plans in mainland China.

"Training our existing staff to the level required hasn't been easy and will take time," Dorothy Sit, the bank's chief executive officer for China, said in an interview in Shanghai Tuesday. "We have to be careful not to over-expand."

The lender may fail to meet a target set in 2008 by former group Chief Executive Officer Raymond Or of 50 outlets in China by the end of 2010, Sit said. Hang Seng, the biggest Hong Kong-based bank by market value, currently has 38 outlets in the country, having added four since August.

Hang Seng currently employs almost 1,500 people in mainland China, with more than 90 percent hired locally, Sit said. The bank will be adding headcount in several departments, including treasury, commercial and corporation banking, she said.

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