YEREVAN, May 10. /ARKA/. The Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Bank Armenia, Astrid Clifford, urged today Armenian banks to be vigilant against a possible second wave of crisis. Speaking at a news conference she said there is uncertainty at global markets concerning possible risks, which steps from political situation sparked by presidential elections in France and the United States and the uncertainty in the eurozone. She said HSBC Bank Armenia is ready for a possible financial crisis.

Astrid Clifford predicted also a slower growth of credit portfolios of Armenian banks in 2012-2013.
She said in 2010-2011 the loan portfolio of HSBC Bank Armenia and other banks saw a very rapid growth, which she said  can not last long and the growth will begin to slow down this and next years due to a slower pace of economic growth. She said HSBC Bank Armenia has no shortage of funds and is able to meet the loan demands.

Clifford also said that the bank is tradtionally focused on those clients who are involved in international trade, which is a common practice in the world, and "Armenia is no exception."
HSBC Bank Armenia is a member of HSBC Bank plc. It was registered in Armenia in 1995. Its shareholders are HSBC Europe BV that owns a 70% stake and Wings Establishment (30%). HSBC Bank Armenia joined NASDAQ OMX Armenia stock exchange in 2009. The Bank offers a variety of services to its individuals and legal customers, including individual credit services, commercial lending, as well as transactions in financial markets. To date, the bank has more than 35,000 individual and about 5000 corporate  customers.  According to ARKA data, the bank’s overall credit investments as of March 31, 2012 stood at 110.4 billion drams, which made 8.5% of the total outstanding loan portfolio of all banks.. ($1-392.47 drams).