One of seven former Singapore-based Citibank Gold private bankers being sued by the US banking giant has said that UBS offered him a 60 per ...

One of seven former Singapore-based Citibank Gold private bankers being sued by the US banking giant has said that UBS offered him a 60 per cent salary increase to cross over to join the rival bank. Jonathan Seah, a former Singapore branch manager for Citibank Gold, has filed an affadavit with the Singapore High Court revealing the UBS offer, which he also says was made to other Citibank employees. Citibank is suing Mr Seah and six of his former colleagues for allegedly mis-using client information and poaching Citibank customers across to their new employer. The bank claims Mr Seah sent almost 150 attachments containing client information and performance records of relationship managers to his personal email account from Citibank before he joined the private banking operation at UBS in May. Citibank also claims that Mr Seah had a role in poaching two managers across from Citibank to join him at UBS, a move it claims was in violation of a clause in his contract. Mr Seah told the Financial Times that Citibank was “trying to punish us” for leaving the company, and said there was “zero proof” that the data he transferred was used to the advantage of UBS. He said he transferred the data so he could work effectively from his home. The case is being closely watched by the wealth management industry in Singapore, which is booming as a regional hub but is suffering a desperate talent shortage.