JPMorgan expands EMEA corporate banking business in latest push on regional rivals

By Lawrence White

LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - JPMorgan has launched an expansion of its corporate banking business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as it seeks to grow income and claim market share from regional and domestic lenders, James Roddy, head of global corporate banking at the U.S. lender, told Reuters. 

JPMorgan will hire 30 senior bankers before the end of the year in the region to support the firm's initiative to facilitate $1.5 trillion in financing for industries critical to national security, including up to $10 billion of its own money, Roddy said.

The hiring forms part of a push to grow the bank's business across the EMEA region serving three corporate client groups, namely large-cap, mid-size companies and startups, Roddy said.

"Everything is on the table for entering new markets or adding resources where we are already present. We have the full support of the board to hire if it will help us better serve a client," Roddy said.

The U.S. banking giant's ambition is the latest sign of American lenders using their balance sheet clout to take more market share from European and other lenders, underscoring how regulatory changes and a booming home market have given Wall Street lenders further firepower. 

JPMorgan has grown its number of clients in EMEA by 25% and revenues by 15% in the last two years, Roddy said, and is aiming to add more as it expands across the region providing services such as corporate finance, cash management, payments and foreign exchange. 

JPMorgan ranks first for European investment banking fees - which will include some though not all corporate banking-related fees - so far this year, up from third place in the same period last year, according to LSEG data, increasing its market share by 1.3 percentage points to 7.4%, the most growth among the top ten lenders. 

The lender has also doubled its headcount in the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey and Poland over the last two years and will grow total staff numbers by a further 60% over the next five years, Roddy said, declining to give specific numbers of employees in those markets. 

JPMorgan has particularly stepped up its business and lent more in the Middle East as the turmoil resulting from the U.S.-Iran conflict has seen rivals reduce their risk appetite in the region, Roddy added.

The bank said last October it would invest up to $10 billion in U.S. companies critical to national security and economic resilience as part of the broader Security and Resilience Initiative (SRI).

JPMorgan appointed Daniel Rudnicki Schlumberger as its head of SRI for EMEA in June, following ex-British politician Chuka Umunna leaving the role for Citigroup.

(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Alexandra Hudson)