CorpBanca, Chile’s fifth largest bank, is set to launch a wealth management unit this year to cater for high net worth customers, Business News America reports.

The objective is to grow the bank’s HNW customer base, currently some 5000 strong, by 30-40 per cent, Óscar Cerda, the bank's head of private and corporate banking, told the news service.

It remains to be decided whether the private client division will be based in CorpBanca’s Santiago headquarters or at one of its main branches. "But the decision has already been made, and the idea is to do something powerful to grow significantly in that segment," Cerda is quoted as saying.

The bank has a loan market share in the Latin American country of around 7 per cent and is carrying out a $674 million capital increase to expand its capital base, according to the report.

Chile is touted as one of the key expansion markets for the wealth industry in Latin America. Answering recent questions for Family Wealth Report on wealth management growth opportunities, PricewaterhouseCoopers analysts said: “Latin America clearly will be one of the most profitable markets globally. We see the greatest growth in wealth management as a business in Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Other markets including Argentina and Uruguay continue to show strong growth.”