The Swiss private bank is widening its offerings to clients after winning a wholesale banking licence.

The choice for article of the week is the story of Union Bancaire Privée, which has grown in recent years by acquiring assets from the old Coutts International business in Asia for example, and has won a wholesale banking licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. This takes UBP's banking business up another level. While some European lenders have pulled private banking out of Asia, UBP, along with other Swiss firms such as Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, UBS and Pictet, appears happy to raise its game further.