REUTER: Sanwa Bank to Open Office i

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Subject: REUTER: Sanwa Bank to Open Office in Rangoon

 Sanwa Bank to Open Office in Rangoon
  
  By Rika Otsuka
     SYDNEY, June 3 (Reuter) - Leading Japanese banks see more potential
for profitablity in Asia than in Europe or the United States and plan to
continue to boost operations in the region, Japanese banking executives
said on Monday.
     "Our bank is going to expand business more and more in Asia in the
future," Minoru Eda, deputy president of Sanwa Bank Ltd, told Reuters in an
interview at the International Monetary Conference in Sydney.
     "Business for Japanese banks in Asia is more profitable than business
elsewhere outside Japan," he said.
     Other bankers said they planned to expand operations in Asia at a
greater pace than in the U.S. or European markets.
     They said margins in Asia were much more favourable as deals were
generally smaller, meaning the same amount of funds could generate more
fees than larger deals elsewhere.
     The banks were also following Japanese manufacturers into the Asian
region as they escaped a firm yen at home and took advantage of strong
regional economies.
     "We have tried hard to expand our office network in Asia in the past
one to two years," said Toru Hashimoto, president of Fuji Bank Ltd.
     "We are now opening an office in Bombay in India after opening a Hanoi
office in order to meet demand from Japanese customers who want to increase
business there," he said.
     Hashimoto said his bank also wanted to open a branch in Beijing and a
representative office in Rangoon.
     Sanwa's Eda said Sanwa had unofficially been told by the Burmese
government that the bank would be able to open a representative office in
Rangoon.
     Unlike the 1980s when Japan enjoyed a booming economy and Japanese
banks were busy expanding their workforce and facilities everywhere, some
banks were now choosing to shift their workforce, especially Japanese
employees, to Asia from more mature markets, bankers said.
     Yoshiki Soga, managing director of Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan Ltd,
said the bank had been localising management in much of Europe and the
United States and was sending Japanese bankers with international
experience to Asian countries.
     An increasing presence in Asia and the gathering of information there
was important for Japanese clients as well as Western customers since
Westerners were increasingly interested in Asia, said Soga, chief executive
of LTCB's U.S. operation.
     In addition, many Asian governments wanted to attract Japanese banks
with their huge funds to help turn their cities into regional financial
centres, bankers said.
     For example, several banking officials said the Chinese government had
asked them if they would set up a second branch in Shanghai for local
currency dealing on an experimental basis.
     For such a large benefit, Japanese banks would increase their presence
and support the local economy, the bankers said.
     "All those factors that have seen Japanese banks push into Asia
emerged all at once," said one bank executive who declined to be named. "So
this expanding trend in Japanese banks' presence in Asia would continue for
a while."
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