JPMorgan eyes Swiss corporate business gains, blockchain boost

ZURICH (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase wants to grow its Swiss corporate banking business and hopes to use blockchain services to help gain clients, an executive at the U.S. bank said.

“We’re ambitious and want to gain market share,” Lutz Karl, who heads the bank’s business with major corporate clients in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, told Reuters in an interview.

One of the leading foreign banks in Switzerland alongside peers including Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, HSBC and BNP Paribas, JPMorgan has given itself three to five years to expand its position, he said.

The disappearance of Credit Suisse, which after collapsing last year was taken over by its long term rival UBS, has opened doors for competitors in some areas, said Karl.

“Many companies reacted relatively early. When the first warning signals were heard, they started to shift their liquidity to other banks. We felt that back then,” he said.

“But I wouldn’t call it a big bang.”

With just over 10 people on site, JPMorgan serves around 60 large companies in Switzerland, including all 20 companies in the SMI blue chip index, offering cash management, risk management and bond financing in its corporate banking business.

Among small and medium-sized enterprises the bank has over two dozen active customer relationships and will continue to grow significantly in the segment, said Karl.

Blockchain technology was presenting opportunities for growth in cash management via payment transactions, he added.

In Germany, companies including Siemens are already using JPMorgan’s blockchain services to move money around the globe in real time, the executive noted.

“We’re also having a lot of discussions on the subject in Switzerland, and expect to bring the first customers onto the platform in the next few months,” said Karl, who is also aiming for market share gains in the trade financing business.

(Reporting by Oliver Hirt;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)