Top 30 Headlines in 2016

Falcon Private Bank has been blocked by the financial regulator of Singapore from taking on new assets and funds in Singapore due to its involvement with 1MDB.

It is now under investigation by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a possible breach of anti money laundering rules in handling transactions linked to the Malaysian state fund 1MDB. Learn More …

The former CEO of Pictet and Cie in Asia has been named as the new Head of Private Banking Southeast Asia at ABN AMRO’s Singapore unit. Anuj Khanna will be appointed as Head of Private Banking for Southeast Asia with effect from 1st September 2016. Learn More …

Shang-Wei Chow has been appointed as Market Head, Domestic (Singapore) team at HSBC Private Bank with effect from 3rd November 2016. He has about 15 years of experience managing client relationships and wealth portfolios in Southeast Asia.

He will be in charge of new business development and existing client relationships. Learn More …

DZ Privatbank Singapore (PBSG) will stop doing business in Singapore on 31st December 2016. The bank will be taken over by Bank of Singapore. The relationship managers at PBSG will switch to Bank of Singapore and be available for the clients. Learn More …

Aseem Arora has been appointed President of Silverdale Capital.  He will lead strategic business development and enhance the base of Silverdale Funds in Private Banks, External Asset Managers (EAM), Family Offices, Institutionals and Ultra High Net Worth clients in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa.

Prior, he was Managing Director for Bank of Singapore. Learn More …

UBS will cut several dozen jobs at part of its private bank. The Swiss bank told staff in May it was reshuffling its flagship wealth management business as part of efforts to cut costs. The latest cuts affect employees worldwide at IPS, which provides products and services to wealth management clients. Learn More …

Silverdale Bond Fund has been awarded “Best US Dollar Bond Fund ( 3 years)” by AI Hedge Funds, sponsored by Barclay Hedge for its consistent superior risk adjusted returns.

The Silverdale India Equity Fund was also awarded “Best India Equities Low Volatility Fund ( 3 Years)”. Learn More …

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has implemented penalties of S$5.2 million and S$2.4 million on Standard Chartered, Singapore Branch and Coutts & Co, Singapore Branch for anti money laundering (AML) breaches. This is related to the 1MDB related flows through the banks. Learn More …

ABN AMRO NV is exploring the sale of its Asia Private Banking Business. This is according to several sources in the bank who said the bank has reached out to potential buyers to gauge interest.

ABN AMRO is enforcing 200 million euros of cost cuts as competition, regulatory pressures and low interest rates have caused earnings to decline since the bank returned to the stock market. Learn More …

DBS & Julius Baer are contemplating bids for ABN AMRO Group’s Asia Private Banking Business that manages about $20 billion in assets. ABN AMRO has hired Lazard Ltd to advise on the sale.

The sale could fetch somewhere between $300 & $350 million or 1.5 – 1.75% of assets under management. Learn More …

Three former colleagues and Managing Directors from UBS Wealth Management Asia has opened a new investment and advisory firm called Lioncrest Global in Hong Kong on 11th November 2016. They have more than 60 years of experience in wealth management, asset management and corporate finance.

Lioncrest Global focuses on serving select institutions, family offices and high net worth families and individuals. Learn More …

The Head of Investment Advisory for Southeast Asia at Standard Chartered Private Bank is leaving. Mario Becker has been at Standard Chartered for seven years and is based in Singapore, overseeing the Ultra High Net Worth clients.

Previously, he was working at Deutsche Bank wealth management division. Learn More …

Private banks in future will have to disclose all fees, charges and rebates in bond sales as a result of investors who have lost money in recent defaults.

Private banks have been in controversy over their selling tactics as the bonds which defaulted amounted to S$1.1 billion which is about 0.74% of the S$149 billion Sing dollar bonds. Learn More …

Citi appointed Fabio Fontainha as Head of Consumer Banking for the ASEAN region with effect from 1st Dec. He is currently heading the consumer and commercial banking business in Latin America. Learn More …

HSBC has announced the appointment of a new head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management business in Singapore.

Anurag Mathur will be in charge of driving and implementing HSBC strategy for Retail Banking and Wealth Management business in Singapore. Learn More …

Deutsche Bank has confirmed it will close the Australia wealth management business and service its customers from Singapore and Hong Kong. The exit allows the bank to focus on investment banking products and services.

The transition of their client activities to other providers will be expected to complete in the first half of 2017. Learn More …

The High Court of Singapore has dismissed the case in which two former clients of Julius Baer were seeking a SGD 94 million & HKD 186 million claim for damages and losses incurred by the bank resulting from share accumulator transactions in 2007 & 2008.

The former clients of Julius Baer Singapore had filed the writ of summons with the court in 2013. Learn More …

Standard Chartered Head of Swiss Private Banking is set to leave. Mark Hirst job has been made redundant when Standard Chartered decided to exit Switzerland and move the client assets to other places such as London and Dubai.

The bank will no longer be in the Geneva banking landscape & the trust business will now be centralised in Singapore. Learn More …

Patricia Enslow who worked for UBS in Asia has left the bank. During the term with UBS, Patricia played an important role for marketing the bank throughout the Asian region.

She was most recently the Managing Director and Chief Marketing Office for UBS Wealth Management Asia Pacific. She leaves UBS to accept a new role at Credit Suisse. Learn More …

According to a report by Private Banker International, DBS Private Bank has notched a spot amongst the top five banks in 2016 with US$79 billion in Assets Under Management.

Previously, it was No. 8 in last year rankings and this year it has climbed 3 spots to be No. 5 in rankings. Learn More …

ANZ has engaged in a cost cutting measure by reducing the number of Singapore staff by around 20%. This comes up to roughly 400 jobs.

The job cutting exercise began last year and will likely end on the bank’s financial year end on 30th September. Learn More …

Standard Chartered announced that there will be two more senior bankers added to its Private Banking Team. Andrew Ho will be the Managing Director and Market Head, Indonesia. Vishal Jain will be the Managing Director and Market Head, Global South Asia Community Asia.

Both senior bankers will be based in Singapore. The appoints are effective as of November 2016. Learn More …

DBS has appointed Rob Ioannou as Head of International Private Bank. His responsibilities include Global South Asia, Non Resident Indian teams, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.

Before joining DBS, Ioannou was Co-Head of HSBC’s Private Bank for Southeast Asia and a Director of HSBC Trust Company Singapore. Learn More …

Nicholas Kourteff has been hired by Credit Suisse. He will be the head of product management solutions in Asia. Prior to this, he was from UBS and has spent nine years in UBS. Learn More …

The job cuts will most likely take place in Singapore where Westpacservices businesses and individuals with links to Australia. However this will not impact Westpac’s trade finance operations in Asia.

Westpac and the other rivals are cutting costs as earnings growth is lesser. Learn More …

Three former Credit Suisse bankers have moved to Julius Baer. Pradinan Arkarachinores has been appointed Team Head for the Thai Market, based in Hong Kong. Agatha Chan is appointed Team Head for the Philippines market, and will be based in Hong Kong.

Tisha Mellado joins Julius Baer as a senior RM in the Philippines team, based in Singapore. Learn More …

Union Banciare Privee (UBP) has recruited bankers covering two key client areas. Prashant Tandon joins UBP from Barclays where he was a managing director.

Tandon will join the Non Resident Indian (NRI) team. Another banker who will be joining is Jane Maund, who is formerly from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Maund will be covering the North Asian client segment. Learn More …

HSBC Private Bank has named Johnny Liu as Managing Director, Regional Head of Global Solutions Group (GSG), Asia Pacific with immediate effect.

He was with Credit Suisse and was Head of Shareholder Coverage and Corporate Advisory in Greater China. Learn More …

Standard Chartered has appointed Paul Skelton as Global Head of Banking. He will start in December 2016 and report to Simon Cooper, CEO, Corporate and Institutional Banking.

Paul Skelton will be in charge of the large corporate and financial institution client relationships. Learn More …

Fidelity International has appointed Daisy Ho as Managing Directr, Asia ex-Japan. She will be based in Hong Kong. The role includes the Institutional, Intermediary and Defined Contribution business channels. Learn More …

Join us in the 2016 Rewind:

• The 2016 Ultimate Rewind
• Top 5 Most Shocking News in 2016
• The Rewind: Private Banks in 2016
• Top 50 People Moves in 2016
• Top 5 Professionals Who Left Private Banking in 2016
• Top 10 Research Publications in 2016
• The Rewind: Fund Management in 2016
• Top 10 Most Popular Articles in 2016
• Top 20 Most Popular Articles in 2016
• Top 10 Most Popular Videos in 2016
• Top 50 Most Memorable Photos in 2016
• Photoshot of the Year 2016
• Top 30 Headlines in 2016