Singapore is unlikely to overtake Switzerland as the top wealth centre in the world by 2015, but it should strive to play to its strength in world of global finance, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong said.
According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, which questioned 200 finance industry professionals from 51 countries expected Switzerland to lose ground, with Singapore taking the top spot in the next two years.
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Loong said that Singapore was focusing on a number of growth areas including finance, fixed income, capital markets, foreign exchange and investment banking to become a global financial hub.
"Even though Singapore has about US$1 trillion in assets under management, the republic is unlikely to take top spot. ‘I don’t think that’s true. I don’t want that to be my marketing line," Lee told The Straits Times.
Lee with DBS chief executive officer Piyush Gupta said: "We are quite happy to continue our way quietly in the world."
The Prime Minister highlighted the unique strength that Singapore can leverage to continue building its reputation as a global financial hub.
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By GlobalDataAccording to the survey, Switzerland is still the world’s biggest offshore financial centre with USD2 trillion in assets, came ahead of rivals Singapore, London, Hong Kong and New York in the 2013.
Switzerland’s tradition of banking secrecy has helped its financial sector thrive but it is under massive pressure from US to stop tax evasion and close loopholes.
Hsien Loong said: "With its robust regulatory system, it would be in a good position to remain a key financial centre amid sweeping regulatory changes introduced globally in recent years to curb problems like tax evasion. We have a financial centre, not quite like New York, neither are we like Cayman Islands. We are a reputable jurisdiction, and we play according to global rules."
