Advertisement
Advertisement
Banking & finance
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
The exterior of the Citibank corporate headquarters in New York. Citi has asked staff in its Asia-Pacific private banking team to postpone all China travel. Photo: Reuters

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.

A Standard Chartered logo at its headquarters is seen through a window in Hong Kong. Standard Chartered is among a group of global banks that have told staff to postpone or reconsider travel in China. Photo: Reuters

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.

Their caution highlights the risks involved for the global private banks in pursuing what is arguably the biggest opportunity worldwide in the wealth management business.

China is the biggest growth driver of the wealth industry in Asia with its large and growing pool of millionaires and billionaires spawned by the country’s booming technology sector, making it a key battleground for global private banks.

The JPMorgan building is seen at Canary Wharf in London. JPMorgan has informally advised its private banking managers to review their upcoming China travel plans. Photo: Reuters

But its financial sector is under sharp scrutiny as Beijing attempts to lower high debt levels in the economy and rein in the flow of capital outside the country to shore up the yuan, meaning there is very little room for error by industry players.

UBS is unusual in having an onshore wealth management business in China as well as its offshore operations, but almost all other banks advise wealthy Chinese individuals from offshore locations mainly in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Most offshore wealth managers travel frequently to China for informal meetings with clients, but they are not allowed to either solicit onshore business or market widely offshore investments to onshore clients.

Wealth managers UBS and Julius Baer restrict travel to China

Citi asked staff in its Asia-Pacific private banking team, via a brief email on Sunday, to postpone all China travel, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

JPMorgan has informally advised its private banking managers to review their upcoming China travel plans, three people said.

A BNP Paribas bank in Paris. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Bank of Singapore, the private banking arm of Singapore’s OCBC Bank, has told staff they can continue with their ongoing China trips, but should be cautious in future travel to the mainland, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

BNP, Citi, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered and Bank of Singapore declined to comment. All the sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

UBS is the largest wealth manager operating in Asia, with US$383 billion of assets under management, according to Asian Private Banker magazine, ahead of Citi, Credit Suisse, HSBC and Julius Baer.

The number of high-net-worth individuals – those with at least US$1 million to invest – rose by 12 per cent last year in Asia-Pacific, exceeding growth rates anywhere else in the world, according to consultant CapGemini.

Post