High stakes
Hong Kong ranks first in Asia as a financial centre, but its private bankers are fighting for supremacy against rival Singapore, writes Kevin McQueen
In the business of private banking and the race to be the region's hub, Hong Kong needs additional acceleration. Perennial rival Singapore has charged over the past decade to overtake the city as the region's premier private banking centre, and Hong Kong must switch into higher gear simply to match - let alone surpass - the Lion City.
Mindful of the challenge Norman Chan Tak-lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), has laid out his vision for the city to take what he considers its rightful pole position. He told the banking sector in June he wanted the special administrative region (SAR) to become "the most competitive and dynamic private banking hub in the region."
Speed is of the essence given the high stakes. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that emerging Asia, led by China, will contribute 60 per cent of the world's GDP growth by 2016. And that by 2020, the number of millionaires in mainland China and Hong Kong alone will be a staggering 3.7 million, with an accumulated wealth of US$14 trillion.
Not that anyone's writing Hong Kong and its 39 private banks off, but the challenge from Singapore is formidable given its superior reputation for private wealth management.
However, Enid Yip, chief executive for Asian operations at Bank Sarasin, says Hong Kong already is a global private banking hub and that Chan's industry-rallying speech is a timely call to set the bar higher.