DBS Bank, which has secured a license to set up a business in Australia, said it would target a bigger share of the institutional loan market – lending to companies with market values of about $500 million or more. The bank believes this market has strong growth potential as Australia’s economy becomes more deeply integrated with Asia through more inward investment and growing exports of services. Piyush Gupta, chief executive of the bank, said Australia’s closer integration with Asia was ‘inexorable’, arguing that further growth in exports of services such as tourism, education, and health care would be the ‘next big thing’ for the economy. He said DBS was not directly seeking to challenge the market dominance of ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac.
