Standard Chartered eyes opportunities in ASEAN

Standard Chartered eyes opportunities in ASEAN

Dow Jones, Hong Kong

Standard Chartered Bank PLC. is looking for acquisition opportunities in southeast Asia while share prices of some high- quality banking assets are low, the chairman of the bank's Hong Kong operations said Friday.

Speaking to reporters, Chairman Peter Wong said the bank will look for retail banking assets that provide good synergies with the bank's regional operations.

"Share prices of some banks with strong fundamentals in southeast Asia are low because of the weak economic situation. This presents us good opportunities," Peter Wong told reporters.

Wong said the bank has been monitoring the situations in different markets such as China, Indonesia, Korea and Taiwan, but Standard Chartered isn't in a hurry to buy.

"Markets like Taiwan are unstable now and share prices are still under downside pressure," said Wong.

When asked about Standard Chartered's secondary listing plan in Hong Kong, Wong said they are pushing forward their plan "very positively."

"We'll launch our plan as soon as possible," said Wong.

Standard Chartered Bank postponed its plan for a secondarily listing in Hong Kong, previously scheduled for Oct. 18 last year, and said subsequently it would make the listing before the end of March if market conditions improved.