Deutsche Bank has come under fire from a Chinese celebrity who has publicly called its private banking service the "worst in the world."

While wealth managers are increasingly viewing social networking as a useful marketing channel, it has reportedly proven to be a double-edged sword for Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, following a devastating public drubbing by a Chinese celebrity client.

Deutsche Bank has incurred the wrath of Hung Huang, a famous magazine publisher, over losses which she claims have almost ruined her. And her ire could hardly have been vented more publicly, her comments being posted on the hugely popular microblogging site Sina Weibo, on which she has a staggering 2.7 million followers.

“Deutsche Bank offers the worst private banking service in the world. They have nearly turned me into a proletarian,” she said, according to Forbes.

Deusche Bank declined to comment on the matter when contacted by this publication.

The exact extent of Huang’s losses are unclear, but one can surmise they must have been exceptionally wounding to prompt such a tirade. However, it should be noted that it is unclear which types of investments Huang was involved in and whether they were of the riskier kind favoured by at least some clients in the Asia-Pacific region.

Huang’s comments have been forwarded or “re-tweeted” thousands of times and have drawn about 1,200 comments, the report said. The furore also seems to have spilled over to Western banks in general, with them coming under considerable fire from Chinese commentators.

“Strangely, Chinese people do not seem to understand this: Financial products sold by foreign banks are not that different from blatant fraud,” one said. Strong words indeed.

While Deutsche Bank has declined to comment on the matter, it is safe to assume that the German banking giant’s Asia-Pacific PR team has gone into damage limitation overdrive. The long-term effects on the firm’s reputation in the region have yet to be seen, but the furore does seem to have tapped into a rich seam of scepticism over foreign institutions – worrying news for the scores of Western firms looking to tap into the Asia-Pacific region’s burgeoning wealth.