Retail News CRM

Tag: Banking

  • Asia Assets Climb Higher at HSBC Private Banking

    Asia Assets Climb Higher at HSBC Private Banking

    Assets under management at HSBC Private Banking climbed higher, driven in part by more than $9 billion of net new inflows in the first half of 2021.

    Asia assets under management at HSBC Private Banking grew 25 percent to $193 billion in the first half of this year, according to a statement, driven in part by $9.3 billion of net new money inflows.

    This accounts for over 45 percent of HSBC Private Banking’s total assets under management worldwide at $427 billion, according to its recent interim report.

    In addition to private banking, HSBC also saw growth across its affluent segments in Asia – Premier and Jade – with a 7 percent increase in the number of affluent and higher net worth clients to 1.7 million.

    Asian wealth revenues in the first half increased 26 percent and account for much of global wealth revenue growth.

    Asian wealth balances – the sum of client assets from HSBC’s Premier, Jade, and private banking segments – reached a new high of $810 billion and accounted for $49 percent of global assets.

    HSBC continues to pursue its ambitions of becoming a leading wealth manager by 2025.

    It has rolled out a series of mobile solutions and digital enhancements for wealth clients in key Asian markets.

    The bank also added around 600 full-time employees in the first half – including 350 personal wealth planners for its mainland China mobile services HSBC Pinnacle with plans to add another 100. The bank said it is on track to hire over 1,00 client-face wealth staff in Asia by the end of 2021.

    The positive momentum of our Asian Wealth business this year shows the traction we are seeing on-the-ground with our clients, as we forge ahead with our considerable investments in technology, products, and people,» said APAC regional head of wealth and personal banking Greg Hingston.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • DBS Reports Progress on Digital Exchange

    DBS Reports Progress on Digital Exchange

    The Singapore bank, one of the first traditional lenders in the region to launch its own digital exchange, now has S$100 million in digital assets in custody.

    I’m quite pleased, it is going quite well,» chief executive Piyush Gupta said on Tuesday during a briefing with analysts after presenting the bank’s second-quarter 2021 financial results, Blockworks reported.

    The exchange – DDEx – now has around 400 clients and did around $133 million in transactions during the quarter, Gupta said. Its assets under custody are also up 60 percent since May, when it had an investor base of 120 clients and some S$80 million in digital assets under custody.

    At the same time, Gupta said his target was to grow the digital exchange’s investor base to about 1,000 customers this year, adding that he expects the volume to pick up once the exchange extends its trading hours past the Singapore business day.

    DDEx launched in December 2020 with an initial offering that covered cryptocurrency trading of bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, and XRP, now expanded to include digital stocks and bonds. In May 2021, the bank launched a crypto trust offering that combined wealth planning services with emerging digital currencies.

    Overall, the bank posted a record-high profit of S$3.71 billion ($2.75 billion) for the first half of 2021, marking 54 percent year-on-year growth.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • DBS Reports Progress on Digital Exchange

    DBS Reports Progress on Digital Exchange

    The Singapore bank, one of the first traditional lenders in the region to launch its own digital exchange, now has S$100 million in digital assets in custody.

    I’m quite pleased, it is going quite well,» chief executive Piyush Gupta said on Tuesday during a briefing with analysts after presenting the bank’s second-quarter 2021 financial results, Blockworks reported.

    The exchange – DDEx – now has around 400 clients and did around $133 million in transactions during the quarter, Gupta said. Its assets under custody are also up 60 percent since May, when it had an investor base of 120 clients and some S$80 million in digital assets under custody.

    At the same time, Gupta said his target was to grow the digital exchange’s investor base to about 1,000 customers this year, adding that he expects the volume to pick up once the exchange extends its trading hours past the Singapore business day.

    DDEx launched in December 2020 with an initial offering that covered cryptocurrency trading of bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash and XRP, now expanded to include digital stocks and bonds. In May 2021, the bank launched a crypto trust offering that combined wealth planning services with emerging digital currencies.

    Overall, the bank posted a record-high profit of S$3.71 billion ($2.75 billion) for the first half of 2021, marking 54 percent year-on-year growth.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • SFC Fines UBS Over Regulatory Breaches

    SFC Fines UBS Over Regulatory Breaches

    Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission reprimanded and fined UBS over regulatory breaches covering various areas including transparency client suitability.

    The SFC fined UBS AG and UBS Securities Asia Limited HK$9.8 million ($1.26 million) and $1.75 million, respectively, over various regulatory breaches, according to a statement.

    The issues covered areas ranging from lacking disclosures to client suitability issues.

    The SFC’s probe found that UBS failed to make proper disclosure of its financial interest in some Hong Kong-listed companies covers in its research reports for 14 years, between May 2004 and May 2018.

    The failure was caused by multiple data feed logic errors in a legacy data source used by UBS for tracking its shareholding positions, the securities regulator said.

    The SFC also found that UBS failed to fulfill various processes across client suitability and sales.

    It said the Swiss bank, in various time periods, failed to obtain valid standing authorities from clients who were not qualified as professional investors; record client order instructions; fully assess client derivatives knowledge; and disclose the stop loss event feature in a structured note.

    The SFC considers that UBS failed to act with due skill and care and put in place adequate systems and controls to ensure compliance with the applicable regulatory requirements,» the regulator said in the statement.

    Lees ook:

  • HSBC Boosts First-Year Banker Pay

    HSBC Boosts First-Year Banker Pay

    HSBC is reportedly the latest global bank to join the Wall Street trend of increasing salaries for junior executives.

    Salaries of first-year analysts at HSBC’s investment bank will increase from $85,00 to $100,000, according to a report citing unnamed sources.

    The bank introduced pay rises for existing analysts and associates in May.

    London-headquartered HSBC joins a number of global financial institutions increasing wages to compete for investment banking talent including UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

    Lees ook:

  • UOB Rides Economic Recovery

    UOB Rides Economic Recovery

    The bank posted a record quarterly wholesale banking income of $848 million, and a record AUM in wealth management in the first half of 2021.

    UOB posted second-quarter earnings of S$1 billion ($740 million), unchanged from the first quarter, which brought first-half earnings of S$2 billion, according to financial statements released on Wednesday.

    Net profit was 29 percent higher in the first half of the year compared to 2020, driven by strong business momentum and lower credit allowance, and 48 percent higher than the second half of 2020, supported by the group’s strong customer franchise and lower credit allowance, UOB said.

    Core Business Growth

    The bank noted healthy contributions across its core businesses, with income growing 5 percent to S$4.9 billion, fee income growing 28 percent to S$1.2 billion, and loans growing 6 percent to S$299 billion.

    Cross-border income, which contributed to 29 percent of wholesale banking income, grew by 5 percent, while a recovery in market sentiment saw assets under management growing by 7 percent to S$137 billion, UOB said.

    Total expenses remained stable at S$2.15 billion and cost-to-income ratio for the year improved from 45.6 percent to 43.8 percent. The bank also reduced its allowances to S$383 million, from S$682 million a year ago, noting that asset quality remains within expectations, with strong reserve coverage from the proactive general allowance taken in last year. Total credit costs on loans eased to 24 basis points.

    In a media briefing on Wednesday morning, UOB deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong said the bank is positive about its outlook and expects profits to continue to rebound, backed by strong single-digit growth in loans and double-digit growth in non-interest income. It also expects growth in Asean markets to improve as vaccination rates increase, which will further boost its performance.

    The past quarter, the bank launched products like digital wealth manger SimpleInvest, which Wee said has received an «overwhelmingly positive response.» It is also working on distributed ledger and asset tokenization initiatives like digital bond issuance on Marketnode, and collaborating on central bank digital currencies.

    The bank also expressed an interest in potentially acquiring Citi’s retail assets in the Asia Pacific region, to strengthen its regional franchise.

    With the lifting of MAS restrictions, UOB is resuming its dividend payout ratio of 50 percent, which translates to 60 cents per ordinary share.

    Lees ook:

  • HSBC Names Head of Qatar Private Banking

    HSBC Names Head of Qatar Private Banking

    The bank has named a long-standing stalwart to enhance HSBC’s client proposition in Qatar.

    HSBC has named Ibrahim Al Abed as its head of private banking in Qatar, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

    Based in Qatar, Al Abed reports to Sobhi Tabbara, global market head, Middle East and North Africa, Private Banking, and Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi, CEO of HSBC Qatar.

    Al Abed joined the HSBC’s Qatar office in 1999 and has worked across Digital Business Services and Global Operations before moving to Wealth & Personal Banking, after which he joined Markets & Securities Services in 2004 to become the head of corporate sales.

    In the announcement, Tabbara said Qatar is a «very important market for Private Banking in MENAT.»

    HSBC’s history spans 67 years in the Gulf nation, where it offers a full suite of banking products and services, including wealth management and personal banking, commercial banking, global banking and markets, and security services.

    Lees ook:

  • Deutsche Bank Stalwart Decamps for State Street

    Deutsche Bank Stalwart Decamps for State Street

    State Street hires a Deutsche Bank executive as head of product management in the Asia Pacific region, according to a statement.

    Jeslyn Tan joins the firm after 22 years at Deutsche Bank. She will be responsible for developing and driving an end-to-end product strategy for the Asia Pacific region.

    Based in Singapore, Tan reports globally to Brenda Lyons, global head of asset servicing product, and regionally to Mostapha Tahiri, chief executive officer for Asia Pacific.

    Tan brings 26 years of deep experience in product management in Asia Pacific, and was most recently Deutsche Bank’s global head of product management, and has held numerous senior roles at the German lender during her tenure.

    We are well-positioned to better serve our clients by responding accurately and offering the right products and services to clients in the rapidly changing environment in the region, Tahiri said in the statement.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • StanChart Nabs HSBC Private Banker

    StanChart Nabs HSBC Private Banker

    Standard Chartered Private Bank has expanded its Southeast Asia unit with the addition of a relationship manager from rival HSBC.

    Nipud Sud joins Standard Chartered Private Bank as an executive director and relationship manager, according to a note, effective August 2.

    Based in Singapore, Sud reports to senior client partner Suresh Nair who joined the bank in January this year and reports to private banking team lead of Singapore and Malaysia Adeline Chow.

    Sud has 18 years of banking experience, including ten in private banking with Citi, J.P. Morgan and, most recently, HSBC covering ASEAN and Hong Kong clients.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Citi Posts All-Time High in APAC Net New Assets

    Citi Posts All-Time High in APAC Net New Assets

    Citi’s wealth management business in Asia Pacific registered a record-high in net new assets during the first half.

    Citi’s newly merged wealth management unit – Citi Global Wealth (CGW) – attracted nearly $15 billion in net new money across Asia Pacific, according to a statement, mostly from its wealth hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and UAE.

    This included $8 billion from the second quarter with assets under management growing 21 percent year-on-year.

    Citi posted $6.19 billion of net income in the second quarter – a nearly six-fold increase compared to the same period last year.

    Asset growth was supported by ongoing expansion at CGW which includes plans to add an extra 2,300 staff – including 1,100 relationship managers and private bankers – in order to add $150 billion in total client assets by 2025.

    Year-to-date, the American bank has already added «several hundred wealth professionals» in APAC, the statement added.

    «We are capturing market share as Asian clients increasingly require portfolio advice, design and allocation geared toward diversification of asset types and geographic exposures,» said Citi’s APAC chief executive Peter Babej. «As the world’s most global bank, with broad-based expertise across investment products, we are strongly positioned and fully committed to serving these needs.»

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Bank of China to Open Geneva Branch

    Bank of China to Open Geneva Branch

    Bank of China, the country’s most globalized bank, is giving Geneva a second chance and opening a branch there again, but this time the focus will be different.

    Bank of China Geneva Branch was registered on the Commercial Register on June 15 and listed as an authorized bank by Swiss financial regulator Finma on July 9, the bank said in a press release Monday.

    Bank of China is the most globalized and integrated Chinese bank. The bank is ranked among the «Fortune Global 500» for 31 consecutive years and among the global systemically important banks for nine consecutive years. Its overseas service network covers 62 countries and regions, the press release said.

    It added that with the establishment of its bank in Switzerland, the Bank of China would work to build a bridge for Sino-Swiss trade and investment, providing comprehensive trade finance products and commodity trade financial services to Swiss enterprises doing business with China and Chinese enterprises in Switzerland.

    The bank previously opened a branch in Geneva in 2008 and intended to operate a classic wealth management model. It was unsuccessful and closed eight years ago, with the business sold to Julius Bär. The new branch’s focus, by contrast, will be on corporate clients. Bank of China employs around 300,000 people globally.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • DBS Appoints Global Head of Transactions Services

    DBS Appoints Global Head of Transactions Services

    DBS has appointed a group head of global transaction services, succeeding John Laurens who will be retiring.

    Lim Soon Chong has been named to the role, according to a statement, effective August 1 this year.

    Laurens, who first joined DBS in 2014, will remain as a senior adviser to support the transition until December 31.

    Lim is currently group head of investment products and advisory for DBS’ consumer banking and wealth management unit as well as group head of product management for global transactions services. Ex-group head of trade product management and 20-year banking veteran Sriram Muthukrishnan will take over Lim’s latter role.

    Lim joined DBS in 2006 and has taken on various senior roles across the bank’s consumer, wealth, corporate treasury, and risk management divisions. He will maintain his role as head of digital for DBS’ institutional banking group.

    We remain committed to efforts to rotate our senior leaders around different functions and markets to hone their business acumen and technical skill sets to ensure they are well equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow, Lim said.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Nearly Half of Singaporeans Own Cryptocurrency

    Nearly Half of Singaporeans Own Cryptocurrency

    Despite market volatility and regulatory pressures, the outlook for crypto adoption remains positive especially in Singapore where nearly half of its residents own the digital asset class, according to a survey.

    43 percent of Singaporeans own cryptocurrency, according to a survey by Independent Reserve, a digital set exchange with operations in the city-state since 2020. And adoption is expected to continue to rise with 46 percent of respondents plan to buy crypto in the next 12 months.

    Naturally, awareness has been high in Singapore with 93 percent claiming they have knowledge of cryptocurrencies and 90 percent claiming they heard of bitcoin.

    Unsurprisingly, younger individuals have led adoption rates at 66 percent for those aged 26 to 45 compared to 31 percent cumulatively for all other age groups.

    The same age group was also twice as likely to buy crypto in the next 12 months at 61 percent.

    Crypto adoption is expected to increase in Singapore with 59 percent of Singaporeans believing it will reach mass-scale adoption and 70 percent for those under the age of 45.

    The price outlook is also positive with half of the respondents expecting bitcoin’s value to rise to S$50,000 by 2030. 13 percent of those under 45 forecast bitcoin’s price to reach S$250,000 by the same year. The data is based on a survey of 1,000 Singaporeans conducted by Independent Reserve.

    Independent Reserve also launched its inaugural Cryptocurrency Index for Singapore and scored it at 63 out of 100 using criteria based on awareness, adoption, trust and confidence.

    With digital currency gaining momentum worldwide, Singapore continues to emerge as a key hub in Asia due to its robust and well-regulated financial markets infrastructure and openness to new technologies,» said Independent Reserve CEO Adrian Przelozny.

    The strong awareness and adoption of crypto among Singaporeans in the survey findings are probably a natural reflection of the country’s progressiveness and commitment to preparing for the future.

  • BNP Paribas Nets Ex-Credit Suisse NRI Banker

    BNP Paribas Nets Ex-Credit Suisse NRI Banker

    BNP Paribas Wealth Management has hired an ex-Credit Suisse banker to oversee the non-resident Indian market.

    Aditya Chauhan will join BNP Paribas Wealth Management as a market head for non-resident Indians (NRI), sources said, and he is expected to be accompanied by a team of bankers. Based in Singapore, Chauhan will oversee all NRI bankers in the city-state and Hong Kong.

    Chauhan was most recently working for Credit Suisse where he was also an NRI banker that reportedly began coverage of the Sri Lanka market in 2018 with a team of relationship managers. A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment.

    In 2021, BNP Paribas Wealth Management has made a number of senior private banking hires in Asia.

    In addition to Chauhan, it added longtime Citi banker Kevin King as its China market head in March and ex-Standard Chartered banker Michael Yong-Haron as its Hong Kong CEO earlier this year.

    Lees ook:

  • UBS Plans to Up Pay for Junior Bankers and Directors

    UBS Plans to Up Pay for Junior Bankers and Directors

    UBS Group is reportedly planning to raise the salaries of global banking analysts, associates, and directors, marking the latest global bank to increase pay for talent.

    In their first year, analysts will earn about $100,000 annually, according to a «Reuters» report citing unnamed sources, followed by $105,000 in the second year and $110,000 in the third year.

    Associates will earn $175,000 to $225,000 and directors will make around $275,000.

    The salaries increases will come into effect from August 1, the report added.

    UBS is the latest global bank to increase salaries in order to attract and retain talent, particularly for non-senior positions.

    This follows similar moves by Wall Street banks to incentivize younger financial workers, particularly after first-year analysts at Goldman Sachs complained about a gruesome work-life of long hours and cutthroat deadlines in an internal survey leaked earlier this year.

    Lees ook: