Private Banking in Asia

1. Introduction. Recovering from the Asian crisis. Changing political and business scenarios: brief profiles of the countries covered in this report. 2. Country profiles: Market profile by countries. Important yardsticks: currency exchange rates, interest rates, foreign investments and GDP in different countries of the region. Singapore: holding the South Asian fort. Hong Kong: repositioning itself. China: awakening of a giant. South Korea: untapped bounty. India: land of promise. Malaysia: centre of Islamic finance. Thailand: harvesting nouveau-riche. Indonesia: exporting wealth. 3. The financial markets. Patterns of savings and investment. Maturing of financial markets and regulatory changes. Linkages among markets within Asia and the outside world. Securities market: size, trends and the huge variations among different markets within the region. The banking industry. How the laggards are catching up with the best in Hong Kong and Singapore. How retail banks are posing as wealth managers. 4. The market. Wealth creation in Asia: a historical prospective. Estimates of size and potential; the level of penetration by private bankers. Broad HNWI categories and their characteristics. Traditional wealthy families: overseas Chinese traders, old business families, royal families, politicians and their scions. The new entrepreneurial class. The professionals and westerners settled in Asia. The would-be HNWI among the mass affluent. The role of property and stock markets in wealth creation. The offshore, onshore divide. 5. Portfolio management. Different styles and flavours. Stocks dominate Asian portfolios. Hedge funds causing ripples. Bonds-dull but necessary. 6. Money Laundering and Private Banking. The hardening challenge: the increased pressure on due diligence and know-your-customer. The regulator's viewpoint. A discussion on different regulators look at the business. Views of private bankers. Does this mean a serious loss of business? 7. Private banking strategy. Strategies adopted by important players. Credit Suisse. UBS. Citibank. HSBC. SG Private Banking. BNP Paribas. EFG Bank. Strategies of Asians banks that are just entering the business. DBS. UOB. Client servicing strategies: a discussion covering issues like. Understanding the unique requirements of diverse clients; is it possible to categorise them? Similarities and dissimilarities between European and Asian clients in terms of their needs. Are European and US banks offering something special and different in Asia from what they do in their home markets? Meeting the non-financial needs of Asian clients. 8. Conclusion.