(Bloomberg) -- Lloyds Banking Group Plc is shuttering its commercial finance business in Asia, part of the bank’s strategy to focus on UK and US markets. 

As part of the move, the lender will close an office in Singapore that served a variety of corporate and commodities trading clients. 

A spokesperson for the firm confirmed the changes were part of a strategic review concluded in February under new Chief Executive Officer Charlie Nunn.

In commodities, Lloyds has been active in revolving facilities and is a provider of letters of credit: short-term loans that enable traders, smelters and refiners in Asia to purchase raw materials. The bank is the latest departure from the space, an exodus that is leaving small to medium-size players short of financing just as prices of everything from oil to zinc and wheat have soared on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Lloyds is involved in about $4.8b of loans in Asia, according to Bloomberg data. The bank is an existing lender to firms such as Mercuria Energy Trading, Huawei Technologies and Victorian Prison.

“We have committed to honoring any deals we have been mandated upon and, where feasible, we will look to maintain the relationships we have built with clients in Asia out of the group’s UK offices,” the Lloyds spokesperson said.

Lloyds is not as active in Asia as UK peers such as Barclays Plc or HSBC Holdings Plc, which often act as arrangers on loan transactions. Barclays is involved in $86 billions of loans in the region, while HSBC is among the top leading banks there with exposure to more than $500 billion of loans.

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