ZURICH (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) wants to grow its corporate banking business in Switzerland and hopes to use blockchain services to win clients, an executive at the U.S. bank said.
“We are ambitious and want to gain market share,” Lutz Karl, who heads the bank's business with major corporate clients in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, told Reuters in an interview.
JPMorgan, one of the largest foreign banks in Switzerland, along with peers Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, HSBC and BNP Paribas (OTC:), has given itself three to five years to expand its position, he said.
The demise of Credit Suisse, which collapsed last year and was taken over by long-term rival UBS, has opened the door to competitors in some areas, Karl said.
“Many companies reacted relatively quickly. When the first warning signs were perceived, they began to transfer their liquidity to other banks. We noticed that then,” he said.
“But I wouldn't call it a big explosion.”
With just over 10 people on-site, JPMorgan serves around 60 large companies in Switzerland, including the 20 companies in the SMI blue chip index, offering cash management, risk management and bond financing in its corporate banking business.
Among small and medium-sized businesses, the bank has more than two dozen active client relationships and will continue to grow significantly in this segment, Karl said.
Blockchain technology is presenting growth opportunities in cash management through payment transactions, he added.
In Germany, companies such as Siemens are already using JPMorgan's blockchain services to move money around the world in real time, the executive said.
“We are also having a lot of discussions on this topic in Switzerland and we hope to onboard the first customers to the platform in the coming months,” said Karl, who also aims to gain market share in the trade finance business.
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