Ten private bankers have asked to leave Bank of Singapore, the private banking subsidiary of Singapore-based OCBC.

Ten private bankers have asked to leave Bank of Singapore, the private banking subsidiary of Singapore-based OCBC, Reuters reports.

The staff who may be on the move were among 50 in OCBC's own private banking arm before it was merged with the acquired Asian private banking unit of ING earlier this year, bringing the total to 200.

Chief executive of Bank of Singapore Renato de Guzman said in a statement: "The integration of two different organisations resulting from any merger and acquisition activity is not expected to be totally smooth. Staff volatility is also not unusual in private banking in Singapore."

The Singapore wealth management market has seen a number of hirings in recent months as banks - some of them from the West - have sought to capture what is seen as a vibrant Asia-Pacific market, in some cases poaching from rivals to do so. RBS Coutts Singapore, for example, is boosting its private banker headcount, recovering after losing a large group to a rival about half a year ago. Swiss private bank BSI SA is considering tripling its assets under management for high net worth individuals in Asia as part of its expansion strategy, as recently reported. The company has increased its staff numbers in Singapore sixfold from 30 in 2009 to 180, over 50 per cent of whom came from RBS Coutts.