The private bank is going after clients with $5 million, according to the annual report statement from the lender.

Standard Chartered's private bank, which made a pre-tax profit of $32 million in 2016, is seeking to widen its product offering by taking on new clients with at least $5 million to invest, according to its recently issued annual report. This will not affect existing clients, where the minimum remains at $2 million. 

"We want to be recognised as the private bank for entrepreneurs and are investing significantly to capture the opportunities present in our footprint," it said in its annual minimum report. Among its priorities for the private banking segment are to "broaden our product offering to give our staff the tools they need to attract new clients with assets under management of at least $5 million," Standard Chartered said.

"The current minimum AUM for Standard Chartered’s Private Banking clients is $2 million, and we remain committed to serving them. Our intention is to move the minimum AuM for new clients to $5 million, over the next couple of years. We continue to invest in broadening our product offering and enhancing our capabilities," a spokesperson later told this news service, when asked about the change.

The private bank logged a statutory loss before taxation of $41 million last year, from a profit of $92 million in 2015. The underlying profit narrowed from $99 million in 2015, caused by weaker income and higher costs.

"The difference between underlying and statutory profit before taxation is explained by restructuring charges of $73 million in 2016 and $7 million in 2015," the firm said.

Assets under management declined 4 per cent to $54 billion at the end of last year.