The UK private banking business told this publication that it did not comment on media speculation.

Societe Generale is mulling an exit from the UK private banking market, only a few years after its business in the country rebranded to the Kleinwort Hambros name, a news report said.

The story of a possible departure was published yesterday in Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources (the story is behind a paywall). This publication wasn't able to see the exact reasons cited for why such a move would be taken.

A spokesperson for Kleinwort Hambros said the bank did not comment on media speculation.  

The Kleinwort Hambros business was renamed from its former moniker of Societe Generale Private Banking Hambros in November 2016 after Paris-listed SocGen bought the old Kleinwort Benson business. The new name was designed to underpin the very “British” nature of the private bank.

Ironically, as this publication has heard from Kleinwort Hambros executives, the French parentage of the UK business is seen as a plus for a bank trying, along with its peers, to navigate the uncertainties of Brexit. The fact that the parent bank is in the European Union and part of the eurozone is regarded as a positive quality.