It is America’s biggest lender by assets, with total assets of $3.503 trillion. And for the first time, JPMorgan Chase is planning to expand its consumer banking operations to Kenya, with preparations to establish its first-ever representative office in the country currently underway in Nairobi.
An American banking presence in Kenya can aid recent U.S. efforts to encourage foreign trade and foreign investment in African enterprises, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said on Monday after announcing that it had approved the bank’s resubmitted plan to open the branch after a 12-year delay caused by regulatory hurdles dating back to 2012.
“The JPMorgan Chase Bank representative office in Kenya will contribute to the diversity of Kenya’s financial sector and catalyse trade and investments,” said CBK.
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“Additionally, the authorisation of the Representative Office affirms Kenya’s standing as a premier financial services hub.”
Representative offices are the simplest way for foreign banks to establish an organisation in Kenya. However, they are also the most restricted in terms of activities, as they only serve as a liaison between the head office and its customers and correspondent banks locally.
Bearing that in mind, despite JPMorgan being known for serving millions of people with a broad range of financial services, including personal banking, credit cards, mortgages, auto financing, loans, and payment processing, it is still unclear what type of service they will offer in Kenya.
It is likely, however, that the bank will join the other ten international banks in the country, including FirstRand Bank of South Africa, Bank of China, Bank of Kigali, Bank AL Habib, and Banque Misr, which offer their local clients investment banking, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management services.
Kenya has now joined South Africa and Nigeria as the only three African countries with JPMorgan’s branches and agency offices.
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