Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) denied on Tuesday circulating speculations that the bank is about to launch a strategic move on Asia as it clarified that the company is maintaining its concentration on its Australasian business operations.

Bank representative David Lording told AAP that Westpac's strategy on Asia would remain the same as it has been for some years now, adding that the bank is focusing on its existing clients base of Australian firms engage in business dealings in the Asian region.

Westpac said that a report by the Australian Financial Review, in which the bank had allegedly contracted Bain & Company to review its Asian banking strategy for its planned expansion in the region, was untrue.

Mr Lording said that Westpac is not presently doing business with Bain & Company though he admitted that the two parties may have done some dealings in the past.

To date, Westpac is being dwarfed by its three biggest competitors in terms of running offshore operations and the bank's Asian businesses are currently limited to some satellite offices in Beijing, Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mumbai with some branches in China, specifically in Beijing and Shanghai.

Analysts have said that the bank has been overtaken by its chief rival, the ANZ Banking Group, which currently maintains considerable presence in 13 Asian countries and is on a hot trail for some acquisition opportunities.

Banking experts have observed that Westpac's acquisition risk is almost non-existent considering that the bank has yet to realise its full targeted synergies from the purchase made on St George Bank in 2008, as the group maintained that its priority for the last half of 2010 is on improving productivity and leveraging customer gains to date.

As of 1443 AEST on Tuesday, Westpac shares were trading at $23.61, collecting some gains of 46 cents or 1.99 percent from the previous trading day.