Hong Kong is boosting its allure as a hub for global family offices. Julius Baer is opening an office in the city while its super-rich clients eye investment-based residency visas and tax concessions.

A ‘tacit directive’ on China wealth inflows was given by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, an FT report says, but ‘overall inflows into Singapore remain diversified’, MAS claims.

Across the region, the total disclosed deal value in 2022 reached about US$19 billion, surpassing the previous year’s US$17.8 billion record, with six deals in excess of US$1 billion, according to a report by Bain and Company.

Although most Chinese analysts do not believe the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will substantially impact local financial markets, regulators in Beijing have vowed to improve financial security.

Those who’ve left may not return, but insiders say Hong Kong’s status as a gateway to mainland China will attract ‘a new wave of expats’ following the money – as Singapore battles rising inflation and soaring rents.

Hong Kong continues to be an ideal investment market in the Asia-Pacific region for family offices because of its deep liquidity, diversified asset classes and investible products.

The 166-year-old Swiss bank sees the sector as a key focus of a ‘radical’ restructuring that aims to return it to its core foundation, according to chairman Axel Lehmann.

Credit Suisse is exploring the sale of the US operations of its asset management business in its strategic review, while investment banking chief Meissner is set to depart, people familiar said.

For the banks, it’s vital to get clients while they’re young, and building rapport with the wealthiest clans is key to keeping the account for when the children take over or become independently wealthy.

China’s rate cuts, which will help boost economic activities, came as July data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday indicates worrying trends.

China’s banking regulator is pressing ahead with ‘risk disposal’ at small- and medium-sized banks to protect public savings, as a scandal at several rural lenders shakes confidence in the country’s financial system.

China’s central government must find ways to promptly repay the depositors or risk the effects of damaged public confidence, say scholars.

‘Financial activities that are abhorred by the public’ will be identified and stamped out, China’s central bank vows as Henan banking scandal threatens to snowball and affect the nation’s entire financial system.

Customers at four Chinese rural banks in Henan province and one in neighbouring Anhui protested after being cut off from their savings since April, with police arresting members of a ‘criminal gang’ and naming another suspect.

A number of protesters remain in police custody, while others say distrust of Henan government is rife amid financial scandal, even as authorities vow to begin repayment of deposits up to 50,000 yuan (US$7,450) this week.

Banking scandal in Henan and Anhui provinces has left thousands of rural residents cut off from their savings for months, sparking protests and a violent response.

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Citigroup is hiring more private bankers to compete with HSBC and rivals in Hong Kong, as wealthy clients seek alternatives to volatile stocks to boost returns

HSBC has maintained about 50 per cent capacity in its Hong Kong offices for much of the pandemic.

Private bank Julius Baer, currently based in Central, has leased four floors in the 41-floor skyscraper Two Taikoo Place, in what Colliers described as the largest ‘decentralisation deal’ in Hong Kong since late 2018.

Midea Group, Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food, and a clutch of home-appliances makers help grease the US$164.7 billion economy in Foshan in Guangdong, a southern Chinese province bordering Hong Kong.

The richest individuals on the planet became collectively richer in 2020 while the world was mired in unprecedented economic slumps caused by the worst public health crisis in decades.