APAC-BFSI-Outlook-2017

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FURTHER REGULATIONS CAN
ONLY MEAN THAT THE BANKING
LANDSCAPE WILL BE UNDER
INTENSE PRESSURE IN THE COMING
YEARS.
KAPIL KANALA
Associate Director
Research, Asia Pacific
T:+91 40 4040 5555
GREG ISAACSON
Senior Research Analyst, USA
T:+1 312 871 5003
Conclusion
The banking and financial services
industry is under intense pressure
following the global financial crisis.
Amidst all the regulations and increased
oversight, banks are increasingly
shutting down non-core activities
with lower margins. The message to
commercial real estate managers is
loud and clear: Optimize the portfolio
and cut real estate costs wherever
possible. Accordingly, many global
banks are rightsizing their operations
or shifting back-oŸce operations
to non-core locations or lower-cost
emerging markets, such as India and
the Philippines. They are also trying to
streamline space requirements through
workplace strategies. Regional banks
tend to be less constrained, with many
Chinese and Japanese institutions
aggressively expanding their presence
overseas, including lending and
investment as well as physical oŸces.
For banks that are under cost pressure,
transforming their real estate portfolio
may not be enough. Many banks need
to adopt radical approaches, such
as embracing “Fintech” – new cloud
computing, artificial intelligence, big
data, and mobile technologies that
are disrupting the financial industry.
Banks, such as OCBC, DBS and ANZ
have been quick to adopt some of these
technologies, and many lenders are
partnering with tech startups to gain
an edge. Fintech adoption, however,
is tempered by a lack of regulatory
support, infrastructure bottlenecks and
a general distrust of online banking
in emerging markets. Going forward,
the advance and deployment of these
technologies will largely define how
banking sector operations evolve in Asia.
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