ASB's new risk appetite for export lending

ASB's new risk appetite for export lending
"We know we have to take more risk," ASB chief executive Vittoria Shortt says. (Image: NZME)
Pattrick Smellie
One of New Zealand’s largest trading banks, ASB, is dipping its toe in the water to test a new, more “flexible” approach to extending credit to firms seeking to grow their exports.The ASB ACCESS programme has initially set aside $20 million to experiment with perhaps half a dozen firms in the food and fibre sector that show the potential to grow as exporters but need additional financial backing to do so.The bank’s move coincides with a growing trend for high-growth businesses to seek debt finance from non-traditional, n...