Banque Piguet has opened a representative office in Hong Kong to be run by three managers of Chinese origin under the direction of chief rep...

Banque Piguet has opened a representative office in Hong Kong to be run by three managers of Chinese origin under the direction of chief representative Michael Chan, who joins after serving with Jardine Fleming and M&A firm Sino-European Investment Management. The Hong Kong office is being opened in parallel with the strengthening of the Asian management team in the Geneva branch, headed by Jian Li-Vincent. Working in collaboration, the managers in Asia and Geneva are aiming to increase the volume of assets under management in Hong Kong and neighbouring countries, followed by China as soon as the laws permit. “Banque Piguet is opening its first overseas office in Hong Kong as it is not only an area of the world that is experiencing strong growth but is also a region I know especially well for having lived and worked there for many years,” said Charles de Boissezon, chief executive officer. “The objective of this Hong Kong office is, in the medium to long term, to use Hong Kong as a platform for the development and growth of our business in China. The country should open up more quickly than expected, as the authorities have already introduced laws to ease the diversification of Chinese investments into foreign markets. "This process began in May 2006 with the granting of Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor licences to fifteen Chinese and foreign banks so as to allow the investing of private Chinese funds outside the country. For now this licence is limited to investments in bonds, but should soon extend to other kinds of assets such as equities. "Furthermore, the number of banks, financial institutions and insurance companies who will be able to obtain QDII licences in the future should also increase,” he said. Last year Banque Piguet & Cie celebrated its 150 anniversary. Its majority shareholder is the Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, which took over control of the bank’s operations from the Piguet family in 1991.