We Want To Be In Top Five Of Asian Private Banks, Says European Lender

Tom Burroughes

3 July 2017

While a raft of European and other foreign banks have sold up private banking and wealth operations in Asia to local firms, licking their wounds after failing to reach critical mass in the market, some players at least are determined to make a success of the region.
BNP Paribas Wealth Management, which oversees a total of €355 billion, aims to be in the top-five bracket for such firms in Asia in three to five years, one of its co-chief executives has said. According to the Straits Times of Singapore, Vincent Lecomte was quoted saying last week: "Europe is an important region, but the Asia-Pacific is equally important. It's where we've enjoyed substantial growth for the last four years.”

"We have more than doubled our assets and we intend to further grow and enhance our leadership in the region by becoming top five." The bank is No. 8 in Asia, the publication said.

In recent years lenders such as BNP Paribas’ main French rival, Societe Generale, and others including Barclays, ANZ, ABN AMRO and Royal Bank of Scotland have sold off Asian private banking businesses. In many cases these banks have failed to make sufficient profits to justify the cost of doing business, suggesting that for all its wealth, Asia is not an easy a market as once thought. On the other hand, however, firms such as UBS, Julius Baer, Credit Suisse, Citigroup and Standard Chartered remain significant players, although in the case of Standard Chartered, it qualifies as a “local” bank given its strong domestic ties in Asia, as does HSBC.