From Citibank to Standard Chartered, rattled global banks curb China travel after UBS executive is barred from exiting
- Citigroup, Standard Chartered, JPMorgan and BNP Paribas have all asked staff to reconsider or postpone travel to China
- The moves came after a Singapore-based UBS banker was prevented from leaving China, and ordered to meet mainland authorities
Several global banks including Citigroup and Standard Chartered have asked their private banking staff to postpone or reconsider travel to China after authorities there prevented a UBS banker from leaving the country, sources said.
BNP Paribas and JPMorgan also asked their private banking employees to reconsider their China travel plans after the authorities’ action against the UBS banker, two people said.
The Singapore-based UBS banker, who is a client relationship manager in the Swiss bank’s wealth management unit, still has her passport, but was last week asked to delay her departure from Beijing and remain in China to meet with local authority officials this week. Her identity was not known.
The purpose of the meeting with Chinese authorities is not clear. UBS has declined to comment on the matter. However, the uncertainty has led the Swiss bank, and now several of its rivals, to require their private banking staff carefully consider trips to China, the sources said.