HSBC Holdings says it is keen to expand in Eastern Europe and will probably look for acquisitions to do so if prices in the region fall back from current levels.
Douglas Flint, finance director at Europe's biggest bank, said that his company felt under-represented in Eastern Europe after focusing expansion elsewhere in recent years but that current prices deterred any imminent moves.
"If we were to get any kind of meaningful presence I think it would probably have to be through acquisition but it certainly wouldn't be - or I hope it wouldn't be - at today's prices, because they are very difficult to justify."
Mr Flint said the bank's interest in Eastern Europe was due to its proximity and integration into the European Union, the growth of an emerging middle class, and a potential boost from Russia's "staggering" natural resources wealth.
He said although HSBC was generally happy with its product and geographic mix, it would "love to have more" in India but that regulations there did not currently allow it.
