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Tag: financial

  • Google Wallet will now automatically add your tickets and passes from Gmail

    Google Wallet will now automatically add your tickets and passes from Gmail

    Google Wallet is receiving a set of small quality of life updates designed to enhance the user experience and make it your go-to digital home for essential passes, tickets, and more. The updates include tighter integration with Gmail to eliminate the extra step of manually adding passes and movie tickets to your wallet.

    If you’ve ever purchased a movie ticket or booked a flight online, you’ve likely encountered the inconvenience of having to scramble through your Gmail in order to find the confirmation. Only to find out that the cellular signal is very weak, and your email won’t load. This is a perfect use case for Google Wallet, which Google just announced now directly integrates with Gmail, automatically surfacing movie tickets and boarding passes from participating airlines and movie chains.

    Google states that this feature is currently available with select global chains, but that the company is working hard to expand its reach. This will likely save you some time and fuss, as you can now have your tickets and passes readily available in one spot with you need them.

    Managing your collection of passes within Google Wallet just got more convenient. You now have the ability to manually archive most passes. Archiving a pass places it in the “Archived Passes” section of the app.

    If you ever need to unarchive any of these previous passes, you can do so as well by tapping on the pass and selecting “Unarchive Pass.” Furthermore, the ability to archive passes extends to your Wear OS devices for more efficient organization, no matter where you are.

    Google Wallet is further blurring the lines between your digital life and the real world. For US-based users, there’s a new beta feature out: loyalty cards saved in Wallet are now cleverly linked with Google Search and Shopping. This means that your membership benefits can be highlighted as you browse for products online, potentially unlocking special offers and discounts. Businesses interested in taking part in this beta test will need to reach out to Google support in order to enroll.

    Lastly, Google Wallet is becoming more accessible around the globe. Back in November, Google Wallet became available to residents of the Dominican Republic, Monaco, and Peru. This means that Google Wallet is now available in 74 countries worldwide for both Android and Wear OS.

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  • Apple Pay is down for some users forcing them to pay for purchases like a Luddite

    Apple Pay is down for some users forcing them to pay for purchases like a Luddite

    Some social media users are complaining that they are unable to use contactless payment system Apple Pay to ring up a transaction using a Chase credit card. On Apple’s System Status page, it notes that Apple Pay is undergoing some maintenance at the moment and adds that some users in Maryland may have issues with the feature. However, the problem appears to be preventing Apple Pay users from hearing that satisfying “ding” indicating that their credit card has been accepted in other states as well.

    Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge stating that his Chase card was declined when using Apple Pay. Patel noted that when he called Chase, the bank told him that the problem is an “unexpected Apple Pay upgrade” which matches the reason for the issue posted by Apple on the System Status page. Other Thread users weighed in complaining about the same problem including one poor (and possibly hungry) iPhone user who wrote, “Yup, Chase Apple Pay declined getting my baguette and vegan cheese.”

    Considering that the weekend is usually prime time for shopping, we wonder whether Apple should have performed the maintenance on Apple Pay during a time when shoppers are less likely to be tapping their iPhones on POS (point of sale, not what you thought the abbreviation stood for) machines. For example, at 1 am PST (4 am EST), most Americans are sleeping and charging up their iPhone units.

    If this is a problem that happens to you today whether you are shopping in Maryland or Massachusetts, or anywhere else in the U.S., there is the perfect workaround but only if you are up to doing this. Once your Apple Pay payment is declined, follow these directions precisely:

    • Put your iPhone in your pocket.
    • Reach into your other pocket and remove your wallet.
    • Open the wallet and remove the Chase card that is connected to Apple Pay.
    • Run the card through the POS terminal like you might have done years ago before Apple Pay was launched.

    If this happened to you today, we’re sure you were sweating and trying hard to remember how you paid for purchases made before October 20th, 2014 when Apple Pay launched. But those with a memory of a bygone era have been able to pay for their purchases today by simply using their Chase credit card without bringing Apple Pay into the picture. Or, you could pay for your purchases with cash.

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  • Vietnam central bank governor earns ‘A+’ in Global Finance report

    Vietnam central bank governor earns ‘A+’ in Global Finance report

    Global Finance magazine has given Nguyen Thi Hong, Vietnam’s first female central bank governor, an A+ on its 2023 Central Banker Report Cards.

    Hong, 55, is one of only three central bank governors in the world that was rated A+ by the U.S.-based magazine.

    The other two were the Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and Thomas J Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank.

    Hong became Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), appointed by the legislative National Assembly, in November 2020.

    She holds a master’s degree in Developmental Economics and started working at SBV in 1991, where she held several management positions.

    The Central Banker Report Cards, published annually by Global Finance since 1994, grade the central bank governors of 101 key countries, territories, and districts, including the European Union, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Bank of Central African States, and the Central Bank of West African States.

    Grades are based on a scale from A to F for success in inflation control, economic growth goals, currency stability and interest rate management, with an “A” representing an excellent performance down through an “F” for outright failure.

    The full Central Banker Report Cards 2023 report and grade list will appear in Global Finance’s October issue print editions, as well as online at GFMag.com.

    “Fighting inflation, which has been fueled by pent-up demand and disrupted supply chains, has everyone turning to their central bankers for help,” said Global Finance founder and editorial director Joseph Giarraputo.

    Governors that earned an A grade included Brazil’s Roberto Campos Neto, Israel’s Amir Yaron, Harvesh Kumar Seegolam of Mauritius, New Zealand’s Adrian Orr, Paraguay’s Jose Cantero Sienra, Julio Velarde of Peru, Chin-Long Yang of Taiwan, and Uruguay’s Diego Labat.

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  • UBS Slows Digitalization After Significant Cyberattack

    UBS Slows Digitalization After Significant Cyberattack

    The bank engaged in an extensive review after being one of the banks affected by a Russian ransomware attack early in the year. The first casualty? Going digital.

    It is a small section in UBS’s full second-quarter report, but a telling one. Buried on page 41 is a small but substantial tidbit. The bank has just finished a post-incident review after January’s ION XTP ransomware attack.

    To jog people’s memory given the constant diet of entirely unfamiliar names and acronyms from the criminal fringes of cyberspace, ION XTP is the one with derivatives. It paralyzed the trading operations at several banks, although you wouldn’t know it from ION itself, characterizing the entire thing as a cleared derivatives cyber event…contained to a specific environment.

    UBS had told us about it in its first quarter report, saying the event had disrupted its exchange-traded derivatives clearing activities, although it managed to restore them after 36 hours with workarounds.l

    If nothing else, it made waves and caused a great deal of anxiety. A senior US Treasury Department official weighed in with a virtual «keep moving…there is nothing to see here» exercise over the cyber assault from Russian ransomware gang LockBit, according to a report at the time.

    We’ve now arrived at the legendary financial institution post-incident review. A career killer to some and the unwelcome originator of dozens of findings and remedial actions for many others. UBS maintains it identified needed improvements to its framework and will «take actions» to enhance cyber-risk assessments and controls over third-party vendors.

    That’s unremarkable in most contexts, except this attack had very significant ramifications, a key one being that it seemingly chips away at a cherished cornerstone of UBS’s strategy under previous CEO Ralph Hamers.

    But don’t take my word for it. Let’s hear what the company says in its quarterly report.

    Although we are continuing our efforts regarding innovation and digitalization, to ensure there is the right focus during this initial period of integration we have reprioritized some UBS changes, the bank wrote.

    Turgid stuff indeed. You could make a case for switching a few clauses around for clarity. Still, it sounds pretty transparent and clear. I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t much so

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  • VN-Index tiptoes up after plunge

    VN-Index tiptoes up after plunge

    Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.15% to 1,179.76 points Monday.

    The index closed 1.77 points higher after losing 55.49 points on Friday.

    Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell by 38.49% to VND22.17 trillion ($930.73 million).

    CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank led with a 4.2% rise, followed by BID of state-owned lender BIDV, up 3.2%.

    TPB of private TPBank went up 2.2% and BCM of Becamex Investment and Industrial Development closed 2.1% higher.

    SSB of Southeast Asia Commercial Bank (SeABank) lost 3.1%, and GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group was down 2.8%.

    Foreign investors were net buyers to VND82.45 billion, mainly buying VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup and CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank.

    The HNX-Index at the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where mid and small-caps list, was up 0.85% while the UPCoM-Index at the Unlisted Public Companies Market was up by 0.26%.

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  • EY Bags the Elephant With UBS Audit Deal

    EY Bags the Elephant With UBS Audit Deal

    UBS selects EY as its auditor for the expanded bank following its takeover of Credit Suisse in March. PwC will audit Credit Suisse’s books for 2023.

    EY will have lots more work to do at UBS starting next year, having been retained to audit the merged entity starting next. The Big Four firm has been auditing UBS’s books since 1998, charging it $70 million last year for its services, while Credit Suisse paid PwC $90 million.

    EZ declined to comment on whether it was retained by UBS, saying only that The size and scale of the global EY financial services audit practice means we are able to access resource and specialist skills from across our network.

    The firm can tap into a global staff of about 20,000 bank auditors. The source told the FT that EY’s international operations are more closely integrated than those of its rivals, making it easier for resources to be shared internationally.

    The report went on to say that EY will probably have to drop the work that it does for Credit Suisse to avoid conflicts of interest. The auditor was hired about two years ago by Credit Suisse to look into anti-money laundering measures in its Asian wealth unit.

    PwC has a much shorter relationship with Credit Suisse than EY does with UBS. In 2020, PwC replaced KPMG as Credit Suisse’s external auditor. Earlier this year, Credit Suisse had to delay the release of its annual report after an SEC inquiry.

    The report came out mere days before Credit Suisse was taken over by UBS on March 19.

    On March 10 the SEC asked the bank to explain how it concluded entity-level material weakness did not exist for fiscal years 2021 and 2022, according to the documents.

    EY is not without blemish, having signed off on the books of German fintech Wirecard which collapsed in 2020. It was subsequently barred for two years from bidding for audit contracts for publicly listed companies in Germany.

    UBS, Credit Suisse, and PwC declined to comment to the FT.

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  • HSBC Private Bank Hauls in Staff from Competitors

    HSBC Private Bank Hauls in Staff from Competitors

    HSBC’s Swiss private banking unit is hiring a whole range of new staff from major banks and Geneva-based competitors like Lombard Odier.

    HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland) has been busy recruiting and strengthening its offshore business from Switzerland in the first half of the year, according to a statement on Thursday.

    Juan Antonio Roche is appointed the new head of sales, and Esty Dwek joins as a new investment advisory officer. Roche previously worked at UBS and Santander, while Dwek held senior positions at Geneva-based Flow Bank and Natixis Investment Managers.

    Based in Switzerland, they are part of a newly formed team to drive growth in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (Emea) region.

    HSBC Private Bank expanded its local offshore banking for clients in Asia with new additions including Neil De Sousa, who is promoted to head of the Emea desk for Asia after seven years at the bank. Klara Chan, who had previously worked at Credit Suisse and JP Morgan is appointed senior relationship manager for Asia.

    The HSBC subsidiary was able to recruit Martin Hediger as senior advisor for clients in Switzerland’s domestic market from UBS. The local desk for super-rich Saudis comes under the leadership of Mario Luis Penabad, formerly of Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier and UBS. Mathieu Brizon joins from Lombard Odier as a senior client advisor.

    Marco Ardigo, formerly with Credit Suisse, takes on the newly created position of heading the business with Italian billionaires. Ten-year HSBC veteran Carl Forsgren becomes responsible for the UHNWI clientele in Northern Europe and international markets.

    The expansion is taking place under the aegis of Gabriel Castello, head of the Swiss private bank since last year, and Emea regional head in the bank’s Global Private Banking division. According to Castello, the recruiting drive underscores the bank’s growth intentions in Switzerland and Emea focusing on super-rich clients and entrepreneurial families.

    The Swiss private bank reported strong asset inflows in the first quarter of the year. In Europe HSBC said it had $153 billion in funds under management from private individuals at the end of last year, making Switzerland stand out as its most important booking center.

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  • Company fined $37,000 for not disclosing stock market transactions

    Company fined $37,000 for not disclosing stock market transactions

    Thai Son Investment Solutions Jsc has been fined VND870 million (US$37,100) for selling and buying back a stock in October last year without disclosing the information.

    The State Securities Commission of Vietnam announced the fine recently and prohibited the company from trading on the stock market for three months starting May 19.

    Thai Son surreptitiously sold 1.5 million shares of Electricity Investment Service Trade Jsc (EIN) on October 19, 2022, and bought 1.4 million shares three days later.

    The SSC recently placed Tan Viet Securities under restrictions for four months for publishing its unaudited financial statements.

    The company had been fined VND745 million in 2021 and 2022 for multiple stock market violations.

  • Techcombank remains on track to hit 2025 targets

    Techcombank remains on track to hit 2025 targets

    Techcombank has set a CASA (current account savings account) target of 55% by 2025 by investing in digitalization and increasing lending to retail customers and SMEs.

    At its recent annual general meeting, CEO Jens Lottner said he was optimistic about the bank’s ability to achieve the targets despite market volatility.

    Lottner said though Vietnam’s economy has recovered, higher borrowing costs, tighter credit and slower GDP growth in the first quarter of 2023 remain challenges.

    The challenges for the banking sector include the high-interest rates, tight liquidity that has pushed up the cost of funds, compressing the net interest margin, and the volatility in the bond and real estate markets.

    Techcombank has entered the third year of its five-year transformation journey, and stuck to its medium-term targets that focus on three pillars: Data, Digital and People.

    According to Lottner, the bank’s digital transformation accelerated significantly in 2022 due to heavy investments in digital technologies.

    In 2022 the lender deployed digital platforms for its retail and business customers, including the Techcombank Mobile and Techcombank Business apps. Around 90% of customer transactions are conducted via the bank’s digital platforms.

    “Techcombank is investing in digitalization to create seamless experiences for customers in both online and offline channels,” Lottner said.

    “This process requires investment, technology capability and integrating various systems and platforms across the bank.”

    “Techcombank is now at an inflection point, and ready to accelerate.”

    The bank is employing artificial intelligence to create human-like interactions with customers over digital platforms, analyze data to understand the needs of individual customers and offer each customer the right products and services throughout their financial lives.

    “The technology application helps reduce the customer acquisition cost while enhancing customer value,” Lottner explained.

    Techcombank has been adding around one million new customers a year and plans to add another 2-3 million by 2023, primarily through digital channels.

    Techcombank plans to allocate more of its credit quota to retail customers and SMEs to diversify its credit book while reducing exposure to the property sector, thus improving risk diversification.

    By increasing lending to retail and SMEcustomers, Techcombank aims to broaden its exposure to growing sectors such as fast-moving consumer goods, auto, utilities, and others.

    But Lottner said this strategy would be flexible and depend on market dynamics.

    As demand returns, the strategic shift to retail and SMEs is expected to resume in the second half of the year.

    Techcombank has set a CASA target of 55% by 2025. Increasing the CASA ratio is the bank’s top priority. In 2022, it had a CASA ratio of 37%.

    Lottner remained optimistic about the real estate and bond markets.

    “As customer confidence returns and interest rates fall, appetite among affluent customers for bonds, stocks and real estate will rise. The need to transact and move money in and out of assets will lead to a shift from term deposit accounts back into CASA.

    “Techcombank is working hard to strengthen its wealth proposition through better products, more experienced relationship managers and advisory processes to ensure its products are ideally suited to the individual risk-return expectations of every customer.”

    Techcombank is strengthening its offerings in transaction banking for SME customers while enhancing its credit underwriting capabilities.

    Techcombank is launching new initiatives to drive the acquisition of account relationships.

    It plans to launch new cash and liquidity management and treasury management services on the corporate banking side. For merchants, the bank is preparing to launch a series of new offerings in the coming months while it is also releasing a host of new digital features and functionalities to drive online retail customer engagement, as well as new rewards and loyalty platforms.

    “I am confident that we should be able to go to 55% CASA ratio if we continue to follow our strategy,” Lottner said.

    In 2023 Techcombank continues to invest in digital transformation and transition to the cloud to meet customers’ evolving needs.

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  • Bitcoin pushes past $30,000 as investors eye end of rate rises

    Bitcoin pushes past $30,000 as investors eye end of rate rises

    Major cryptocurrency bitcoin breached the key $30,000 level for the first time in 10 months on Tuesday, adding to its steady gains as investors raised bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon end its aggressive monetary tightening campaign.

    Bitcoin peaked at $30,438 in Asian trade and was last 2% higher at $30,262. It has gained about 6% since the start of the month, after rising 23% in March.

    The token’s surge follows Friday’s closely-watched U.S. nonfarm payrolls report that showed employers maintained a strong pace of hiring in March, pointing to a still-resilient economy.

    However, banking sector turmoil sparked by last month’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has raised market expectations that the Fed is unlikely to lift interest rates much higher for longer as it looks to ease the stress on the sector.

    “The reason behind the broad-based rally in crypto is traders’ optimism toward central banks’ monetary policy,” said Tina Teng, markets analyst at CMC Markets.

    “Bets for a sooner Fed pivot on rate hikes have been dramatically strengthened following the bank turmoil in early March.”

    Ether , the second largest cryptocurrency, stood near last week’s roughly eight-month peak of $1,942.50. It was last 0.75% higher at $1,925.80.

    Crypto investors are eagerly anticipating a major revamp to the Ethereum blockchain this week to allow them to access more than $33 billion of ether currency.

    Dubbed Shapella, the software upgrade will let market players redeem their “staked ether” – coins they have deposited and locked up on the network over the past three years in return for interest.

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  • Insurance sales at banks boom

    Insurance sales at banks boom

    More than a dozen lenders achieved bancassurance revenues of over VND1 trillion ($42,633 million) from new customers last year, according to Vietcombank Securities.

    Bancassurance refers to insurance products sold through banks.

    Premium income from new customers increased by 45% during the year, and overall premiums at by 16%.

    Military Bank led with more than VND2.1 trillion from new customers. It was followed by VIB, Sacombank, Vietcombank, Techcombank, VPBank, HDBank, and VietinBank, who all achieved premiums of more than VND1 trillion.

    Banks have an advantage over conventional insurance agents thanks to their existing customer base and financial know-how.

    Bancassurance contributed 40% of the insurance industry’s revenues from new customers last year, and this is expected to increase to 50% in the next two years.

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  • Vietnam blockchain development center launched in Hanoi

    Vietnam blockchain development center launched in Hanoi

    DTS Group and GMO have established a blockchain technology application and development center with the goal of promoting blockchain technology in Vietnam.

    The Mira Blockchain Center in Hanoi aims to bring blockchain technology to life through integrated technology-based physical products and high technology projects.

    The unit will research, apply, deploy, and transfer blockchain technology in artificial intelligence-related technology and other sectors.

    Through research, Mira will create and utilize blockchain technology for ground-breaking technological solutions. The hands-on human resources training center will provide consultation services and technology deployment training for both local and international businesses.

    The Mira Blockchain Center’s services include blockchain application services for asset management, finance, and supply chains, technology consulting services for businesses or organizations, and blockchain testing services for testing and evaluating blockchain performance in businesses.

    At first, Mira will focus on supporting Vietnamese businesses by carrying out technology research and development activities, increasing technology capacity of enterprises.

    The center will later develop blockchain solutions and applications for international markets.

    Leon Truong (Truong Gia Bao), Chairman of DTS Group, said: “Mira will execute continuous testing to perfect our technical process for new projects, providing in-depth knowledge about blockchain.”

    Ngo Van Tau, General Director of GMO, said the center will provide well-trained, practical engineers for domestic and foreign enterprises.

    “I believe the center will help improve Vietnam’s position on the world technology map,” Van Tau said.

    DTS Group, founded by Truong Gia Bao, is a private corporation operating in the fields of media, finance and technology investment. DTS Group has collaborated with associates in its network to promote technology innovation, particularly in the blockchain sector.

    GMO is as a software manufacturer, providing IT solutions and services in Japan, Vietnam, and several English-speaking markets.

    Mira blockchain center

    Address: 6th floor, Ocean Park Building, No. 1 Dao Duy Anh, Dong Da, Hanoi

    258 Ton Dan, Ward 8 District 4, Ho Chi Minh City

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  • Interbank rate climbs up to 13%

    Interbank rate climbs up to 13%

    Nine-month interbank rate has climbed from 9.61% to 13% annually as of February 2, according to the central bank’s latest data.

    On February 2 banks borrowed VND225.7 trillion ($9.6 billion) from each other overnight at the rate of 6.26% per year, up 1.7% points from the end of last year.

    Other terms such as two weeks, one week, six months and nine months have seen rates increased from before the Lunar New Year holidays, which lasted from January 20-26.

    Interbank rates are rising even though the State Bank of Vietnam had pumped liquidity in five trading sessions after Tet holiday with a total supply of nearly VND70.8 trillion.

    Analysts have said that interbank rate will unlikely fall soon as globally central banks will likely continue to raise their rates.

    Deposit rates are forecast to peak in the middle of this year before cooling down.

     

  • Capital Group Teams Up With UBS

    Capital Group Teams Up With UBS

    Capital Group sees new investment opportunities in fixed-income bonds and is entering into a partnership with the asset management division of UBS to that end.

    Fund manager Capital Group is entering into a partnership with the asset management division of UBS. According to a statement Tuesday, the investment firm has launched the Capital Group multi-sector income fund (MSI) through an exclusive distribution partnership with UBS Global Wealth Management (GWM) for investors in Europe and Asia.

    MSI combines four fixed-income sectors: investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds, emerging market bonds, and securitized credit into a single portfolio.

    The Luxembourg-domiciled fund is based on and managed by the same investment team as the US-based MSI strategy launched in 2019. In line with Capital Group’s investment approach, MSI is managed by five portfolio managers with an average investment experience of 23 years.

    According to Mike Gitlin, head of fixed income at Capital Group, the partnership will make Capital Group’s fixed-income business available to UBS investors globally.

    Capital Group is one of the world’s largest and most experienced investment firms with active investment strategies, with more than $2.1 trillion in assets under management.

    Founded in Los Angeles in 1931, Capital Group opened its first foreign office in Geneva in 1962 and added a Zurich office in 2015. In Switzerland, the firm employs about 130 people, 11 of them in Zurich, the majority in sales.

    Organized as a partnership, Capital Group is not listed on stock exchanges. Another distinctive feature is the relatively few strategies it offers, around 50, compared to other large asset managers. In addition, around 60 percent of the investments are held for over five years.

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  • Barclays Popping Up in Verbier

    Barclays Popping Up in Verbier

    British Bank Barclays is the latest private bank moving to Verbier to catch a crowd of international holidaymakers.

    Barclays Private bank is opening a temporary office in Verbier for the 2022/2023 ski season, it said in an emailed statement Wednesday.

    The new pop-up office aims to cater to clients’ needs during their holidays and is a sign of the bank’s growing focus on the region, it said.

    Switzerland is one of the world’s number one destinations for global wealth, with many of our clients choosing to set up residence here to benefit from its many qualities, either permanently or for leisure, Rahim Daya, CEO of Barclays Private Bank Switzerland and head of Middle East, said.

    Other private banks in town, include Lombard Odier, Credit Suisse, UBS, and Julius Baer.

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