BARCLAYS BANK IN INDIA

Barclays bank in India



Barclays bank in India

Introduction

Even before the global financial crisis hit home, the world's top investment banks were looking east. The pecking order in the world's developed markets is more or less set, and winning market share in them is expensive, time-consuming and difficult. Now that the crisis has hit those developed markets hard, opportunities are even scarcer, leaving India as the region offering the best opportunities for growth over the next 10 years.

Barclays has had a presence in India for almost 30 years. Barclays launched corporate banking services in India in November 2006, and retail banking followed in May 2007. Now customers there can benefit from a range of personal or business accounts, loans and other services developed to suit the local market, and a variety of Barclaycard options. Barclays Wealth launched its business in India in 2008, offering asset management to the country's growing segment of high net-worth individuals. Barclays Wealth's international private banking business has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. In India, Barclays provides everyday personal banking including Hello Money, a service which allows customers to access their bank account through their mobile phone (Arora 2010). The bank provides preferential banking services to eligible customers as well as business banking services tailored to meet the needs of corporate clients. It also provides a range of credit cards are available across the country, and large corporate, government and institutional clients with a full spectrum of solutions to their strategic advisory, financing and risk management needs. It provides high net worth and ultra high net worth clients with private banking, investment management, fiduciary services and brokerage.

This paper will seek to shed light on the strategic management of Barclays in India. In this regard, the discussion will elaborate on how well the strategy of Barclays bank in India fits with its environment and what are the main risk involved in this strategy. Furthermore, the discussion will also determine if the strategy is adequate and does not border on over-ambition.

Discussion & Analysis

Barclays PLC expect the India locomotive to remain on track, albeit slowing somewhat next year. Barclays PLC forecast is for GDP growth in emerging market India to moderate to 7.6% in 2011 from 9.1% this year, before reaccelerating to 7.8% in 2012 — with growth continuing to be driven largely by China and India. Barclays PLC see this as a mid-cycle slowdown, reflecting capacity constraints, lower external demand and a gradual withdrawal of fiscal policy support (Uppal 2010). Countering these factors, drivers of business investment remain robust, as do the drivers of consumption expenditure, enabling Indian growth to remain well above levels seen in other regions. With central banks in the US and Europe keeping monetary policy very loose, Barclays PLC expect the focus on emerging fixed-income markets, including India, to accelerate further in 2011. While 2010 was about the global hunt for yield — with fixed-income markets across the board turning in a stellar performance — next year Barclays ...