Credit Suisse stake bolsters presence in Saudi
Arabia…
Tension grows between UK, Isle of
Man…
South African wealth manager FirstRand
to expand overseas…
Bank Sarasin
streamlines private banking division…
Asian
family office numbers expected to jump…
News Digest
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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Credit Suisse stake bolsters presence in Saudi
Arabia
Credit Suisse has taken majority ownership of Saudi Swiss
Securities, its joint venture in Saudi Arabia, and will now provide
a full range of services, including private banking, to its Saudi
Clients.
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By GlobalDataThe local brokerage – renamed Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia – will
provide investment banking and asset management services in
addition to the private banking offering. Wealth management
services will include access to Credit Suisse’s full global product
range, the bank said.
“Saudi Arabia is the dominant economy in the Gulf region and is
a key growth market for Credit Suisse in the Middle East,” said
Bassam Yammine, co-CEO of Credit Suisse in the Middle East and CEO
of the new Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia.
The move sees the Swiss bank join global rivals such as Morgan
Stanley, which has in recent months upped its adviser head count in
the Middle East.
REGULATION
Tension grows between UK, Isle of Man
The collapse of Iceland’s banking industry, and subsequent
fallout over who was to reimburse UK client deposits, has caused
friction between the UK and crown dependency the Isle of Man
following months of improving relations between the pair.
UK Chancellor Alistair Darling said on 3 November that the UK
had no responsibility to guarantee the £550 million in affected
deposits held on the island, asserting that “we need to take a long
hard look at the relationship between this country and the Isle of
Man, a tax haven sitting in the Irish Sea”.
The Isle of Man’s chief minister, Tony Brown, responded by
noting that two tax cooperation agreements had been signed by the
UK and the Isle of Man as recently as September. A subsequent
meeting with Lord Chancellor Jack Straw, however, led Brown to
declare that the UK has “no plans to examine the constitutional
relationship between us”.
STRATEGY
South African wealth manager FirstRand to expand
overseas
South African financial services group FirstRand is to launch
wealth management initiatives in Dubai and the Channel Islands,
with an Indian offering to follow within the next 12 months.
FirstRand, which already has a number of wealth interests
domestically via its South African subsidiaries First National Bank
and Rand Merchant Bank, will target nonresident Indians in Dubai in
order to prepare the firm for a subsequent launch in India.
“The Dubai business will have an India-centric product bias and
we are currently planning the launch of a number of specialised
investment vehicles focused on India,” said Vijey Kapoor, CEO of
FirstRand Private Wealth Management.
FirstRand International Wealth Management CEO Trevor Falle added
that the group would use an open architecture approach to serve
“the new generation of wealthy individuals”.
STRATEGY
Bank of America holds on to Merrill’s ‘thundering
herd’
Bank of America has held on to 99 percent of Merrill Lynch’s
‘thundering herd’ of financial advisers after incentivising the top
performing brokers prior to completing its takeover.
In total, 99.3 percent of brokers responsible for average
revenue of at least $1.75 million each had accepted the BofA offer,
according to the report in the UK’s Financial Times.
A total of 6,600 brokers who generated at least $500,000 were
offered bonuses which provided them with a loan equivalent to such
fees and commissions, payable over a seven-year period.
Approximately 6,200 accepted the deal.
BofA chief executive Ken Lewis said on 18 November that the
acquisition of Merrill remained on track despite market speculation
that the deal could collapse.
Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain said on 11 November
that he had become “more optimistic” of the mutual benefits of a
merger since the integration process began. Shareholders of both
firms are due to vote on the acquisition on 5 December.
STRATEGY
Bank Sarasin streamlines private banking
division
Bank Sarasin is restructuring its business model – consolidating
various divisions into one private banking entity. The changes,
which will take effect as of 1 January 2009, will also see advisory
services for institutional clients separated out from its private
banking business.
The Swiss bank said that it is bringing together its private
client business into one division, based on an organisational
structure dependent on the domicile of the client as opposed to the
location of their relationship managers.
The bank believes that the move will “improve the growth
prospects for assets under management” as well as revenues.
Separately, a Sarasin study into sustainable investments has
found that such themes constitute “a winning strategy” despite
preconceptions to the contrary.
FAMILY OFFICES
Asian family office numbers expected to
jump
The number of Asian family offices is expected to rise sharply
in the coming years, from an initial estimated base of between 10
and 50, according to a study by Liechtenstein’s VP Bank.
The study, produced in conjunction with the University of St
Gallen in Switzerland, was unveiled at the PBI Global
Wealth Management summit on 7 November. It noted that while Hong
Kong remained the most mature market for family offices in Asia,
Singapore was now gaining more business from mainland China.
