Standard Chartered has long been one of the most successful banks to operate in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and it was customer demand ...

Standard Chartered has long been one of the most successful banks to operate in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and it was customer demand that led it to plan the re-launch of its private bank. Although Standard Chartered is currently operating a private bank in Asia, its official launch is expected early next year. “We have for many years built up the wealth of successful entrepreneurs through our commercial business and we can now look to offer a private banking service as well,” Peter Flavel, executive managing director, global private bank, told WealthBriefing in an exclusive interview from their dedicated new private banking offices in Singapore. “Our research showed that only five per cent of our business entrepreneurs were using private banking services and we were in a unique position to change that,” he said. It is these long-standing relationships that will ensure that the bank's clients deal with people with local knowledge. “We build asset allocation models for our clients based on their local economies rather than bring in one that has been operating, for example, in New York. Clients want an investment policy that they understand and is relevant to their local needs,” he told WealthBriefing. Standard Chartered is already the largest foreign bank in India and Pakistan with 81 branches in India alone. And recent acquisitions, in Indonesia of Permata Bank, and of Korea First Bank, which has now been renamed SC First Bank, have opened up more opportunities for the private banking side of the business. The bank also has a very strong Africa presence as well as offices in Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain. The global nature of Standard Chartered is reinforced by the fact that the bank has a total of 81 nationalities working within it. The bank has a threshold for private banking clients of $1 million and one of their target markets is clients in the late 40s, early 50s who are considering how to pass on their wealth to their offspring. But the bank’s main focus for high net worth client acquisition is on leveraging their contacts and already established relationships from the commercial and retail sectors. The bank is hiring internally for its new private banking business, especially those who have been successful in its global markets and mass affluent areas, according to Mr Flavel. News of the launch of the private bank has generated numerous calls from private bankers interested in Standard Chartered’s private banking plans, and the most important selection criteria that the bank is applying is local market knowledge, Mr Flavel told WealthBriefing. Late last year, Standard Chartered bought a 20 per cent stake in Fleming Family & Partners, which is expected to be part of the current push into Asia. Standard Chartered sold its previous private banking operations in Asia more than a decade ago.