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Indonesian bank to ‘swim with Singapore sharks’: Bloomberg Businessweek

Andy Mukherjee Published on Fri, Jul 14, 2017 / 8:14 AM GMT+8

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(July 14): Why would a contented crocodile venture beyond its backyard pool to swim with sharks?

PT Bank Mandiri, Indonesia's largest lender by assets, is set to wade into the cutthroat private-banking business in neighboring Singapore.

The idea might seem a little ridiculous. Among the top 15 Asian private banks (excluding onshore wealth management in China), just three -- UBS AG, Citigroup Inc. and Credit Suisse AG -- control 46% of assets. Bit players like Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. are selling out. Even Standard Chartered Plc, which hopes to make it big, doesn't appear to be having much luck.