More than half (59%) of industry participants agree that private
banking should be firmly ring fenced from high-risk investment
banking in the aftermath of the recent rogue trading scandal at
UBS, a PBI interactive poll has found.
According to the results of the interactive
poll, 33% of respondents strongly agreed and 26% agreed that
private banking operations should be kept separate from investment
banks.
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The interactive poll of 140 industry
participants was run at PBI’s Wealth Summit earlier this
month in Singapore.
The real-time survey also turned up
interesting views on the future of Western banks in Asia, Asian
banks’ global rise and the hot private banking markets in Asia.
Western banks on notice in
Asia
The poll suggested that many Western banks in
Asia face an uphill battle to get established in the region. Almost
two-thirds (64%) of respondents agreed that cost and regulatory
pressures will lead some Western banks in Asia to have to close
down or start consolidating processes. Only 17% disagreed, while
14% remained neutral.
Asian banks to compete globally in 5
years
Participants had high hopes for an Asian
private bank becoming a global player. More than half (54%) private
bankers said they see an Asian-based domestic bank breaking into
the top 10 wealth management firms globally in 2 to 5 years.
A quarter (25%) of respondents said a top 10
placing will occur in 5 to 10 years, with 6% only seeing an
Asian-based bank entering in the top 10 in more than 10 years.
China seen as top
wealth market
Respondents also suggested that China will
only continue to grow in importance as a wealth management market.
When asked which Asian market private wealth practitioners see as
having the most potential for private banks in the next 3 to 5
years, 53% replied China – a 10% increase compared with 43% a year
ago.
Indonesia emerged as the second favourite
growth market with 20% of votes, overtaking last year’s second
place-holder Singapore, which dropped to third place.
Hong Kong retained the fourth spot for the
second consecutive year with 8% of votes versus 10% in 2011.
