CaixaBank opens an office in Singapore and boosts its presence in Asia

As part of the bank's international growth strategy

• At the inauguration of the office, Isidro Fainé, Chairman of CaixaBank and "la Caixa", pointed to the need to "work closely with our customers as they establish themselves in the region" and emphasised Singapore's importance as "a genuine financial and logistical hub in the region, offering powerful growth potential and highly attractive opportunities".
• The bank, one of the ten largest in the Euro area, provides support to Spanish businesses in Southeast Asia and investment opportunities to the major operators and investment funds in the region.
• CaixaBank was named the Best Bank in Spain 2012 by Euromoney and was recognised as the World's Most Innovative Bank at the Global Banking Innovation Awards 2011.

CaixaBank, the leading retail bank in Spain and one of the ten largest banks in the Euro area by stock market capitalisation, has inaugurated its representative office in Singapore, from which it will offer services to five ASEAN countries (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), namely Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as Taiwan. The new representative office is a further demonstration of CaixaBank's belief in the potential for economic growth in the region and its ambition to develop closer relations between Spain and Asia.

The opening ceremony, held today in Singapore, was presided over by Isidro Fainé, Chairman of CaixaBank and "la Caixa", who emphasised his confidence in the potential for social and economic growth in Southeast Asia, as well as the possibility of important future deals between Spain and the countries of the region.

Isidro Faine said that "our presence in Singapore means a lot to CaixaBank, allowing us to provide better support to the growing number of Spanish companies doing business in the area and to work side-by-side with our customers wherever they may go." Fainé stressed the importance of "identifying new business opportunities, financing trade flows between countries, channelling investment through major companies in which CaixaBank holds interests and positioning ourselves closer to financial institutions in Singapore."

Isidro Fainé added that "the city-state of Singapore is already well established as the financial and logistical hub of the region, offering highly attractive opportunities. All this, together with its great location, unique economic development, political stability, financial transparency, high degree of social development, skilled workforce and advanced infrastructure, make Singapore an excellent platform to establish commercial ties with the other countries in the area".

An extensive network of banks and businesses in the region

From its Singapore office, which will be headed by Karim Ben Lachhab, a professional with many years of experience working in Southeast Asia, CaixaBank will offer financial support to Spanish companies moving into the region and to Asian operators that have ties with the Spanish market. The office has local contacts in most of the industries that interest Spanish companies, as well as an extensive network of correspondent banks in the region and the support of its local partner, The Bank of East Asia, which has 170 staff working at its Singapore branch.

During the first six months of 2012 CaixaBank handled 16% of the trade flows between Spain and the six countries that it works with via the new Southeast Asia representative office. These countries are now undergoing strong economic growth and have become a hub for trade between Europe, Asia and America. The region is in the process of developing its infrastructure, with major projects underway and strong demand for consumer goods of all kinds.

In 2011 the trade flows between Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan, and Spain stood at 9.1 billion euro (after growing 17% in 2010 and 7% in 2011). CaixaBank's presence in Singapore will see it scale up its involvement in project financing throughout the region.

CaixaBank will explore and assess business opportunities from its base at the region's major financial hub, providing its own comprehensive knowledge of Southeast Asian countries, their regulations, markets and potential. CaixaBank's representative office will support customers and respond to their banking needs in the region, establishing direct contacts with Spanish companies operating in the country.

Solid international strategy

The opening of the Singapore representative office is the latest move in CaixaBank's international strategy, following the inauguration of representative offices in London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), Milan (Italy), Stuttgart and Frankfurt (Germany), Istanbul (Turkey), Beijing and Shanghai (China) and New Delhi (India). The banks also has its own branches in Warsaw (Poland), Bucharest (Romania) and Casablanca (Morocco), where it was the first Spanish bank to open an office. CaixaBank also holds agreements with more than 2,500 international banks to support international operations and foreign trade for companies and individuals all over the world.

CaixaBank also has stockholdings in partner banks in numerous countries, with which it provides mutual support for businesses and customers. The bank has a 20% stake in the Mexican bank GFInbursa, 39.5% of Banco BPI in Portugal, 17,1% of The Bank of East Asia based in Hong Kong, 9,7% of the Austrian entity Erste Bank and 20.7% of Boursorama in France.

Singapore: a financial and logistical hub

Singapore is the region's major financial centre. It is where many multinationals have set up their regional headquarters and where the region's main trade fairs are held. Commercial opportunities currently exist in numerous industries: infrastructure (construction of highways, subways, hospitals and universities, and improvements/expansion of ports and airports), energy (chiefly wind and solar), water treatment (urgent requirements for water treatment and desalination plants), real estate (residential construction boom in all countries except Taiwan), and food (major growth potential for the wine, olive oil and ham industries).

The number of Spanish companies operating in the region remains low, but is rising. Fresh growth is expected over the next few years in the region, meaning very interesting opportunities for Spanish companies.

Corporate information

CaixaBank is an integrated financial group, with a banking business, insurance operations and investments in international banks. It is the leading retail bank in Spain, where its financial operations date back more than 100 years. It places strong emphasis on growth, both domestic and international, supported by proven experience in banking sector investments and its characteristic prudence.

As well as having the same majority shareholder, CaixaBank and Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona, "la Caixa", also share a commitment to people and the community, and together aim to create value for shareholders while making a real contribution to the community at large. In this regard, Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona, via "la Caixa"s Social Welfare Foundation, finances social, educational, cultural and scientific programs, providing an annual budget of 500 million euro, making it the second largest European foundation and the fifth largest in the world. It is also involved in international cooperation projects in more than 30 countries worldwide.

CaixaBank group aims to create a universal banking model that provides personalized, high-quality and innovative services that are suited to the needs of its more than 13 million customers. The sales staff (26.728) at CaixaBank's extensive network of branches (6.600) are at the heart of relations between the bank and its customers, supported by an efficient and forward-looking multi-channel distribution system.

The bank manages over 433 billion euro in banking business, according to figures as per 30 June 2012, with total customer deposits of more than 246 billion euro. One area that the bank has optimised in recent years is banking services to businesses. Under the CaixaEmpresa brand, the bank handles 28.2 billion euro as per 30 June 2012, up 4% against the previous year.

CaixaBank is also the leader in terms of penetration in Spanish retail banking, where its market shares in various banking products and services continue to grow. Based on its benchmark position in banking for individuals, CaixaBank's aims to position itself as a leading operator in other segments, such as Business Banking, Personal Banking, Private Banking and SME Banking. Thus, by properly segmenting customers, CaixaBank can offer personalised and high-quality services.

Recently, CaixaBank has been named the ‘Best Bank in Spain 2012' by the financial magazine Euromoney. The British magazine pointed to the bank's solvency and powerful growth over recent years, all while staying true to its founding values.