Singapore Bankers ‘Flooded’ With Inquiries from Hong Kong – Reports
Following Hong Kong’s extradition bill protests, wealth managers and private banks have seen increased queries from clients looking to set up channels to move assets to Singapore.
MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) officials have reportedly been asking wealth managers not to aggressively target Hong Kong clients in their market campaigns, in a bid to avoid the perception that Singapore is capitalising on its rival city’s political turmoil.
Hong Kong has been rocked by protests in recent weeks as a result of a proposed extradition bill that for the first time would have allowed China to seek extraditions from the city. The bill was ultimately declared dead by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, but provisions in the bill that may have allowed China to freeze assets in Hong Kong have prompted some tycoons move funds to other offshore wealth management hubs, including Singapore.
According to Reuters sources, the MAS made requests to Singapore wealth managers last month, including to DBS and a unit of OCBC Bank, seeking to ensure they were sensitive to the situation in Hong Kong and were not designing campaigns specifically targeting Hong Kong clients.
“The message was that we shouldn’t be taking undue advantage of what’s going on in Hong Kong,” a Singapore banking source told Reuters on the condition of anonymity. “We have to act responsibly and not launch campaigns to convince clients that this is a good time for them to move their assets.”
According to a Bloomberg report, private bankers in Singapore are being “flooded” with inquiries from investors in Hong Kong, looking to set up ways to move money out of the city more quickly.
One Hong Kong private bank CEO said client inquiries relating to offshore booking processes were running at about four times the usual levels. While clients aren’t yet moving a lot of money, they are setting up channels to enable the shift quickly if the situation deteriorates, he said.
Another Hong Kong private banker said the queries are mostly coming from individuals with assets in the USD 10 to 20 million range, not from the ‘super-rich’, most of whom already have alternative destinations for their money.
DBS’ deputy head of private banking in Singapore, Lawrence Lua, reportedly said the bank has received “increased amount of client inquiries about the Hong Kong situation” in recent weeks.
“Investors, businessmen and wealthy individuals — they love orderliness and rule of law. It is not unreasonable to say that they are exploring alternative locations,” Lua told Bloomberg.
According to the report, another major Asian wealth manager requesting anonymity also said it has already received a large flow of new money in Singapore from Hong Kong.
