JPMorgan to keep Asia hiring pace after corporate bank growth tops 20%

JPMorgan to keep Asia hiring pace after corporate bank growth tops 20%

SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase will continue hiring in Asia Pacific at a similar pace in 2027, after revenue at ​its corporate bank in the region grew by well above ‌20% this year, its regional heads told Reuters.

The U.S. bank is close to completing a roughly 15% increase in Asia Pacific corporate banking staff this year, after expanding ​the team by 20% in 2025, Oliver Brinkmann and Kerwin Clayton ​said in an interview at JPMorgan’s Singapore office.

The hiring will cover ⁠teams serving mid-sized and large companies, the innovation economy, financial institutions ​and non-bank financial institutions, according to the executives.

“We intend to continue to hire ​at a similar pace in 2027,” Clayton said. “It’s across all of our businesses. It differs throughout the region, but it’s in a lot of countries.”

JPMorgan’s corporate banking business in ​Asia Pacific has grown well above 20% year-to-date, helped by Asian companies ​expanding abroad and rising investment in artificial intelligence, data centres and supply chains.

“This year ‌it ⁠is even stronger,” Brinkmann said. “It’s well above 20% across APAC and across all sectors.”

Markets including Taiwan, South Korea, China and Australia have exceeded those growth rates, the executives said.

Southeast Asia is growing by more than 20%, with Malaysia ​benefiting from foreign ​investment linked to ⁠AI and data centres and Singapore acting as a regional connector and hub, Brinkmann said.

“We see a lot of ​inquiries for data centre or GPU financing,” he said. “It’s ​really quite ⁠active. The market is very active.” GPUs, or graphics processing units, are chips widely used to run AI systems.

JPMorgan is also putting more capital into trade ⁠finance ​and working capital finance, which helps companies ​pay for goods moving across borders, as trade within Asia increases and as the bank builds ​its trade finance business.