HSBC has opened a private bank in Ireland, tapping strong potential demand from swelling ranks of Irish high net worth individuals despite recent sharp falls by the country’s equity market. Irish per capita wealth currently stands at €196,000 ($309,921), second highest among the industrialised nations in the OECD, HSBC said in a statement. In 2007 there were an estimated 33,000 Euro millionaires in Ireland, a rise of 3,000 on the previous year. The bank, based in Dublin, will currently employ eight staff. "It is hoped that the number will grow but there is no estimate about how far it will do so," a spokeswoman told WealthBriefing. "We still think it is a good time to open as there is a huge amount of personal wealth here. A lot of it is first-generation wealth," she said. "We feel it is the optimum time to go into the Irish market," the spokeswoman added. “HSBC Private Bank has an experienced team of advisors who have all worked in private banking at a high level. Their domestic experience coupled with HSBC’s global reach makes a compelling combination for our clients,” Rory Quinlan, head of HSBC Private Bank Ireland, said. The move comes at a time when the Irish economy, which boomed in the 1990s and for much of the current decade, has hit fierce headwinds as a result of the global credit crunch, triggering falls in house prices and stock markets. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Ireland Index of equities fell by 22 per cent last year, one of the worst performing stock markets in the developed world.