Wednesday, March 21, 2007
RBS and Bank of China launch high-end business
By Andrew Yeh in Beijing and Florian Gimbel in Hong Kong
Wednesday, March 21, 2007, FT
Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of China, the country's second-biggest lender, yesterday launched a private banking business targeting rich Chinese with more than $1m to invest.
Sir Fred Goodwin, RBS chief executive, suggested that China may eventually become one of its most important private banking markets.
“We have an extremely successful business [in the UK] servicing the high-end elites,” Sir Fred said in Beijing. “It doesn't seem to me very difficult to believe that there's a much, much larger opportunity here in China . . . this is a service which people want.”
The performance of the new joint venture will depend largely on how well UK-style banking options are promoted to existing BoC clients and how quickly new clients are added.
Its first two branches will be in Beijing and Shanghai.
Sir Fred said the existing private client base at BoC, coupled with RBS's experience in global private banking, put the joint venture in an “unrivalled” position. Financial details were not announced.
Li Lihui, BoC president, cited a Merrill Lynch/Capgemini survey last year that found there were 320,000 high net worth individuals – those with more than $1m in financial assets – in China in 2005.
“This will steadily increase,” he predicted.
Mr Li added that the country's fast growth and continuing reforms, especially the recent passage of a landmark property law, would make it easier for Chinese to create and retain wealth.
Large domestic banks such as BoC, in which RBS holds a 4 per cent stake, have been eager to diversify their product offerings while adopting more international know-how.
Mercer Oliver Wyman, the consultant, concluded in a recent report that China will account for a tenth of the total rise in global personal financial assets between now and 2015 and had already become the second-largest wealth management market in Asia after Japan. ¶ 8:04 AM
Wednesday, March 21, 2007, FT
Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of China, the country's second-biggest lender, yesterday launched a private banking business targeting rich Chinese with more than $1m to invest.
Sir Fred Goodwin, RBS chief executive, suggested that China may eventually become one of its most important private banking markets.
“We have an extremely successful business [in the UK] servicing the high-end elites,” Sir Fred said in Beijing. “It doesn't seem to me very difficult to believe that there's a much, much larger opportunity here in China . . . this is a service which people want.”
The performance of the new joint venture will depend largely on how well UK-style banking options are promoted to existing BoC clients and how quickly new clients are added.
Its first two branches will be in Beijing and Shanghai.
Sir Fred said the existing private client base at BoC, coupled with RBS's experience in global private banking, put the joint venture in an “unrivalled” position. Financial details were not announced.
Li Lihui, BoC president, cited a Merrill Lynch/Capgemini survey last year that found there were 320,000 high net worth individuals – those with more than $1m in financial assets – in China in 2005.
“This will steadily increase,” he predicted.
Mr Li added that the country's fast growth and continuing reforms, especially the recent passage of a landmark property law, would make it easier for Chinese to create and retain wealth.
Large domestic banks such as BoC, in which RBS holds a 4 per cent stake, have been eager to diversify their product offerings while adopting more international know-how.
Mercer Oliver Wyman, the consultant, concluded in a recent report that China will account for a tenth of the total rise in global personal financial assets between now and 2015 and had already become the second-largest wealth management market in Asia after Japan. ¶ 8:04 AM
