Sector: Banks Kathleen Shanley, CFA June 2, 2021
[email protected] Home Field Advantage It has proven difficult for global banks to run a successful retail banking business outside their core domestic markets. Citigroup, which had been the most ambitious U.S. bank operating overseas, said in April that it would retreat from consumer banking in 13 primarily Asian countries including China, Indonesia, and Korea, as well as Australia, Poland, and Russia (see GC report dated 4/19/21). Foreign banks operating in the U.S. have fared no better, opening an opportunity for U.S.-based banks to extend their domestic franchises. Just yesterday, PNC Financial Services completed its $11.6 billion acquisition of BBVA USA Bancshares from its Spanish parent company Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (see GC report dated 4/27/21). Citizens Financial Group (CFG) is the latest regional bank to capitalize on this trend. Last week, the company said it will acquire 80 branches and an online deposit business, including $9.0 billion in deposits and $2.2 billion in loans, from HSBC Bank U.S.A. HSBC is giving up on mass market retail banking in the U.S., ending relationships with retail clients maintaining balances below $75,000 and small businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenue. (It will continue to do wholesale business in the U.S.) The company had already signaled last year that it would shift its investments away from underperforming areas in the U.S. and Europe, to focus on higher growth markets, primarily in Asia.