Bank Sarasin to Increase Asian Headcount

Christopher Owen

7 December 2007

Bank Sarasin, the Swiss private bank controlled by Rabobank, plans to increase the number of employees in Asia by as much as 15 per cent annually, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune. The private bank curently employs about 200 people in Asia and plans to expand through its Singapore and Hong Kong offices. Kenneth Sit, Asia chief executive officer for Bank Sarasin-Rabo, said: "It would all depend on the supply in the market, but I think we would like to increase our head count by about 10 to 15 per cent for the years to come each year." Mr Sit was hired from HSBC in December 2006. Private and investment banks have been accelerating expansion to take advantage of surging private wealth in Asia, vying for a limited supply of experienced private bankers in the region. Bank Sarasin's chief executive officer, Joachim Straehle, said in August that he plans to lift the company's client assets to SFr100 billion ($89 billion), by 2010, from SFr84.4 billion at the end of June, he said in August.