A commentary on home-region internationalization in financial groups from emerging economies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine where large financial firms are expanding their operations, including financial firms from emerging economies. This paper has two objectives. The first is the documentation of the relative importance of the largest financial groups in emerging countries. The second objective is to describe the regional nature of financial firms. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis of the internationalization process of these groups is based on a list of top 50 financial groups ranked by total assets in 2010. Findings - The paper shows that the majority of the largest financial institutions from emerging countries are expanding their business in the home region where they are headquartered. This result provides support to the debate on the home-region preference. Research limitations/implications - The paper provides an example on preferences for the home-region orientation but does not provide an analysis of the determinants of FDI in the financial sector. Originality/value - The paper examines where large financial firms are expanding their operations, including financial firms from emerging economies.