Global Bank Internationalization Report Released for the Fourth Consecutive Year

2018-09-26 IMI

On September 26th, Academy of Internet Finance (AIF) of Zhejiang University, International Monetary Institute (IMI) of Renmin University of China and Institute of Financial Research (IFR) of Zhejiang University held the Global Bank Internationalization Report Conference in Beijing for the fourth consecutive year, releasing the “2018 Global Bank Internationalization Report”. Experts from academia and the banking industry attended the meeting and conducted in-depth discussions. The conference was hosted by AIF Financial Internationalization Lab and supported by Global Fintech Lab, China Financial Publishing House, Jintong Global Financial Talents, Beijing International Institute for Urban Development and Institute of Data & Risk (Zhejiang University). On behalf of the research team, Prof. Ben Shenglin released the report. He said that the “2018 Global Bank Internationalization Report” takes a global perspective and analyzes 106 banks from 38 major economies. The total asset of these banks in 2017 were about 70 trillion US dollars, accounting for 86% of the global GDP of the year. From developed countries to developing ones, from Europe and America to Asia and Africa, the analysis covers major banks from major economies and demonstrates the internationalization of the global banking industry. The research team has also conducted a BII (Bank Internationalization Index) ranking for 64 foreign banks which provide relatively complete data. The total asset of these 64 banks is approximately 53 trillion US dollars, accounting for about 65% of the global GDP. The results show that the most international banks are mostly from developed countries. The level of internationalization of banks is generally high in developed countries and uneven in developing countries. In addition, the report also ranks “the largest overseas banks” and “the most profitable overseas banks”. Prof. Ben pointed out that the bank internationalization is just unfolding globally. Some banks are going global and some are carefully adjusting their global strategies, forming a diversified landscape of internationalization. Chairman Cao Tong delivered a keynote speech and thought banks face three problems amid their internationalization: “where to go”, “who is customer” and “how to serve customers”. From the perspective of blockchain, these problems are no longer important and the concept, path and meaning of internalization also change. In the era of new finance, Chinese banks still need to take new approaches to development and keep optimizing models and technologies. Professor Wang Weian gave a speech on financial reform and opening up. He held that globalization was the only way for banks to transform themselves in the context of structural reform, and that “BRI” policies would also bring important opportunities. Meanwhile, domestic economic situation is increasingly complex, trade protectionism is surging, and reform and opening up will also increase the uncertainty of capital outflow. Banks need to remain cautious about adjusting their global strategies. Then, many scholars and representatives heatedly discussed banks’ internationalization. Mr. Ding Zhigao, Vice President of UIBE, spoke highly of this report’s meaning to academia and provided suggestions on building indicators from the perspectives of methods and studies. Mr. Zhao Xijun, Deputy Dean of School of Finance, RUC, proposed indicators could be improved with technological advances and reputation. Mr. Zhang Hongdi, Vice Chief Editor of China Financial Publishing House, held that this report blazed a trial in studying banks’ internationalization from the perspective of publishing. Mr. Yang Tao, Vice Director of National Institution for Finance & Development, proposed that banks should focus on risk factors amid “going global”, such as compliance, operating and legal risks. Mr. Yang Chuandong, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank North China & President of Beijing Branch, believed that foreign banks should focus on localization in talents, products, services and strategies. Meanwhile, Chinese banks have made progress in their globalization and compete with foreign banks in products and services. Representatives of finance industry from the “BRI” countries also shared their experience of globalization. Mr. Lu Pingxin, Representative of Pakistan Habib Bank Beijing Representative Office, said that in the context of “BRI” and “China-Pakistan Economic Cooperation Corridor”, banks’ increasing exchanges and cooperation have boosted their internationalization. Fu Chenggang, China Chief Representative of Abu Dhabi International Financial Center, proposed that international financial centers have a major impact on the banking industry. Yu Jiefang, the associate professor at the School of Economics of Zhejiang University, thanked for the improvement suggestions on indexes and acknowledged that the development of new formats has indeed had a huge impact on traditional finance. In the future, the index will be further considered from the business perspective. Yang Liuyong, the deputy director of the Institute of Finance of Zhejiang University, suggested that some indicators should be added to provide more solid contents for future bank internationalization database. At the meeting, the AIF of Zhejiang University, IMI and China Financial Publishing House held the signing ceremony together. The dean of AIF of Zhejiang University Ben Shenglin, the director of IMI Zhang Jie and the deputy chief editor Zhang Hongdi have signed the strategic cooperation agreement on behalf of the three parties respectively. They are committed to creating a series of prominent publications in financial field to jointly promote the cooperation and development of academic resources and publishing platforms. It is reported that the AIF Financial Internationalization Laboratory of Zhejiang University has published the "2018 Global Bank Internationalization Report" for the fourth consecutive year. It continues to show the internationalization process of major banks around the world according to the Bank Internationalization Index (BII). Among them, the three major indicators that directly reflect the internationalization level of banks are regarded as first-level indicators for the calculation of BII scores, namely overseas asset accumulation, overseas business achievements and global layout. Secondary indicators are also set up correspondingly and further information will be interpreted in detail in text analysis. In terms of the indicator system's application, this report adds an international analysis of banks along the Belt and Road to show the outbound practices of banks around the world from a global perspective, exploring the trends and directions of bank internationalization and providing both scientific and rational development proposals for them. The Financial Internationalization Laboratory is jointly guided by the AIF of Zhejiang University and IMI. Outstanding professors from Zhejiang University and Renmin University of China lead the conference, taking financial academic and industrial elites, excellent students with master or PhD degrees from two universities as the core research team. They are committed to conducting systematic research on the international development of China's financial sector and ultimately helping Chinese-funded financial institutions and other financial entities to fully understand the current development condition, actively grasp development opportunities, summarize and exchange overseas experience, rationally design institutional layout, and formulate a sound international development strategy. It is another research platform facilitated by IMI of Renmin University of China and AIF of Zhejiang University for financial internationalization and financial power. The laboratory is featured by the series of reports of "Global Bank Internationalization Index", with the international development of global banks as the main research object. It is one of the earliest and most comprehensive and systematic projects on bank internationalization research in China for it firstly analyzes the current situation of bank internationalization and the challenges and opportunities in the process of internationalization by exponential forms, and on that basis, puts forward targeted strategic advice.

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Global Bank Internationalization Report Released for the Fourth Consecutive Year

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