Dresdner has opened a Monaco office, through which it plans to target high net worth individuals, according to a statement from the German b...

Dresdner has opened a Monaco office, through which it plans to target high net worth individuals, according to a statement from the German bank. The announcement means that Dresdner is the only German bank to have a branch office in Monaco, despite the increasing importance of wealth management in the principality. The bank said it will focus primarily on acquiring clients in the principality itself, but will also target the “rapidly-growing Mediterranean region surrounding it”. The announcement appears to have been greeted with considerable fanfare in Monaco. The finance minister Franck Biancheri even commented on the arrival of the German bank saying: “With Dresdner Bank we have gained a prestigious major German bank for Monaco. Our government sees this as an impressive vindication of its refocused economic policy.” Dresdner has appointed Charles Sirna as the new head of its Monaco business; he has been with the German bank since 2003, but also has worked at UBS, BNP Paribas and BSI. The Frankfurt-based bank recently laid out ambitious plans to grow its business and said it wants to become one of Europe’s five leading private banking specialists within the next five years. Beyond Monaco, Dresdner is planning to add to existing private banking centres in Austria, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The bank also plans to more than double the number of its private banking centres in Germany to 250 from its current 120 and intends to open three new private banking centres in the UK, through its subsidiary Kleinwort Benson Private Bank.