(22 March 2016 – Asia) Singapore's DBS Group is the frontrunner to purchase Barclays' Hong Kong and Singapore private wealth units, valued at as much as US$300 million ($394 million) sources say.
Singaporean lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OSBC) is also a contender for the sale, the sources added.
The sale is part of a restructuring by Barclays' chief executive, Jes Staley, and comes amid decisions by European banks to rethink their Asian strategy due to pressure at home to cut costs.
OCBC's private banking arm, Bank of Singapore, had US$68 billion worth of assets under management at the end of 2015, whereas DBS private bank had S$97 billion (A$94 billion) of assets belonging to high net worth clients.
According to East & Partners Asia’ ‘Asia Wealth Index’ (AWI), the average Asian High Net Worth Individual (HNWIs) has around US$5.44 million in investable wealth (excluding the family home).
The last round of the AWI found that HNWIs are increasingly depending on the private banking sector and financial planners to manager their portfolios, with a total of 36 percent of HNWIs being engaged with these relationships, compared to just 13.7 percent in 2013.