Monday’s Headlines: For American Business School Students, Is China the Next Internship Frontier?

More and more undergraduate students—particularly those in business school—are competing for internships in Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities with the hopes of getting experience in one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world, according to Businessweek.

Intrax Internships Abroad, which matches students with internships overseas, reports that applications to its program in China increased 600 percent from 2010 to 2011, while another such program, CRCC Asia, doubled the number of student applicants it received to 6,000 last year. The University of Arkansas’s business school offers two scholarships each year to business students to participate in an internship in China. One Ernst & Young recruiter told the magazine: “We’d put a very high value on [work experience in China] because of the growth we’re seeing there and because of the investment we’re making in China. If you have both the language skills and the experience—boy, that is a lot of value for a company like ours.”

 

Other News:

Investment banks around the world are expected to reduce their balance sheets by up to 7 percent over the next two years. [Financial Times]

Morgan Stanley is interested in Citi’s $10 billion stake in MSSB. [Reuters]

HSBC may sell its retail banking and wealth management unit in Mauritius. [Reuters]

The $6 billion sale of ING’s Asian life insurance unit has drawn interest from MetLife and Prudential. [WSJ]

Companies aim to capitalize on the government’s crackdown on white collar crime by offering advice for new inmates on how to get by on the inside. [WSJ]

HSBC gained local approval to merge its operations in Oman with the Oman International Bank. [Reuters]

A day in the life at Columbia B-school. [WSJ]

Deutsche and NorthStar Realty are emerging as the victor in the battle to control the John Hancock Center. [WSJ]

Smaller 401(k) plan advisers are losing the battle to stay afloat. [Investment News]

Developing a story about your firm, and repeating it, is one secret to winning over prospects. [Investment News]

NBNK is set to bid on 632 branches of Lloyds. [Telegraph]

Caixabank is preparing a bid for Banca Civica which would create Spain’s largest domestic bank. [Financial Times]

Duke Street’s founder is launching with his brother Tungsten Corporation, which aims to raise $795 million to bid on European financial firms. [Financial Times]