Absa Bank Limited has received regulatory approval from both the United States Federal Reserve Board and New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS), the New York State regulator, to open a representative office in New York. The office is expected to be operational by the end of the year.
Charles Russon, Chief Executive of Absa Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), notes that the opening of the Absa Bank Limited representative office is critical to the CIB strategy to be closer to its corporate and institutional clients who invest in Africa.
“This is a significant milestone in our growth strategy. Our representative office in New York will enable us to be a globally scalable business by bolstering relationships and driving more connectivity with our global clients through Absa Bank’s independent presence in the US following our separation from Barclays,” Russon says.
James Gregory, Chief Representative for Absa Bank Limited New York, adds: “Through this office, we will be able to directly market our banking services and products to corporate and institutional clients at their HQ decision making locations. We are particularly pleased, as this is progress in our journey to become a leading pan-African CIB franchise with strong international expertise and connectivity.”
Absa has already opened a representative office in London, will explore other locations for representative offices where the client franchise determines a need.
“Absa wants to be a key enabler of Africa’s success through these representative offices and through this and other initiatives such as the strategic MOU we announced early this year with Societe Generale, we are able to support our clients’ ambitions,” Russon says.
