Strategy
Bank Of Singapore Agrees Referral Pact With German Lender

Confirming media speculation, the German private bank, which is exiting the Singapore market, has inked an exclusive referral agreement with a local lender.
A German private bank’s business in Singapore, which is due to
close operations in the Asian city-state, has signed an exclusive
client referral agreement with Bank of
Singapore.
The German firm has been looking to exit the market for some
time.
DZ PRIVATEBANK Singapore, part of DZ PRIVATBANK, has signed the
pact so that its clients can continue to get access to such
services in the jurisdiction, BoS said in a statement.
WealthBriefingAsia has asked the banks about the
potential scale of business likely to be transferred to BoS from
the agreement; Bank of Singapore declined to elaborate;
WBA had not received a reply from DZ PRIVATEBANK at the
time of going to press but will update in due course.
Such an agreement comes hard on the heels of the move by OCBC,
parent firm of Bank of Singapore, to acquire the Hong Kong and
Singapore private banking operations of UK-listed Barclays
earlier this year, highlighting how local players are
consolidating their position and picking up assets from foreign
organisations. In 2014, Societe Generale sold its private bank in
Asia to DBS; at present, there is media speculation that ABN
AMRO’s Asian private bank will be sold, with Julius Baer and DBS
said to be among the suitors. Banque Internationale à Luxembourg
has shut is operation in Singapore.
Bank of Singapore said there is no financial exchange between the
banks.
“DZPBSG’s choice of Bank of Singapore was made based on its
strong financial rating, and its ability to provide a wide range
of innovative product and investment solutions through its
open-architecture product platform,” Bank of Singapore said.