Israeli’s largest bank, Bank Hapoalim, is to
close its Singapore private banking division just five years after
it was opened.
Launched in November 2007 as an “important
step” to increase Bank Hapoalim’s international activities, the
unit will be shut down amid a restructuring of the bank’s Asian
business.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Singaporean division’s operations will be
moved to the Hong Kong and China divisions.
At the same time Bank Hapoalim will provide
private banking services in Asia through its Swiss branches in
Zurich, Geneva, and Luxembourg
The bank said that the closure comes as part
of a plan to expand its business operations in East Asia.
Bank Hapoalim recorded a NIS26m ($6.4m) loss
for its private banking activities out of Israel in 2011. Profit
for the whole private bank division was NIS 457m in 2011.
