China's largest private bank opens S'pore unit, eyes US$30b AUM in three years
Singapore
CHINA Merchants Bank, the country's largest private bank by assets, may manage as much as US$30 billion at its Singapore outfit in three years, as it rides the wave of growing wealth of Chinese businessmen, a senior executive from the bank told The Business Times.
The bank on Wednesday launched its unit in Singapore as a means to track the large swathe of Chinese nationals looking to set up business operations and live here, said Wang Jing, general manager for China Merchants Bank's private-banking unit, in an interview. She expects a growth trajectory here similar to that in Hong Kong, where in about three years the bank grew its assets under management (AUM) to US$30 billion.
The bank sees growth potential in Singapore as an Asian financial centre that operates in a transparent environment, with access to investment products and steady regulations, said Ms Wang.
This comes as the usual high net worth individual from China keeps up to 30 per cent of their assets outside the mainland.
Even as the Singapore and international banks have also targeted Chinese clients located in Singapore, Ms Wang believes Chinese clients who are already existing corporate clients would be keen to park their funds in Singapore through China Merchants Bank, as the bank has a better understanding of Chinese clients' needs.
She observed that in diversifying their asset holdings, clients are less concerned about moving funds out of Chinese banks, but are focused on diversifying their asset holdings across different markets and out of China.
"In this digital age, every bank has the same responsibility to exchange information, and ensure transparency," she said in Mandarin. "But if the client passes legal requirements, then every bank is also required to maintain client confidentiality."
The 60,000 existing Chinese private-banking customers at China Merchants Bank have a "sticky relationship" with the bank and, if moving to Singapore, may approach the bank's Singapore operations to understand the immigration process, or the education system, Ms Wang added.
The private banking arm in Singapore will start with nine staff, and will expand its team, said Ms Wang, though she declined to provide a target for staff count. She added that while the pool of bankers is small, their private bankers would be focused on serving existing clients, rather than having the pressure to bring in new clients.
As it is, China Merchants Bank managed about 1.7 trillion yuan (S$345 billion) in private-banking assets as a group by the end of 2016. It set up its corporate banking services in Singapore in 2013. As at March 2017, the bank's operations in Singapore have had about US$2 billion in assets and worked with 100 customers.
