Asia's Growth Not Due To European Outflow - Report

Vanessa Doctor

11 October 2009

Europeans shifting their wealth to the East is not why the region is seeing a growth in wealth management and private banking -- it's Asians getting richer, a report by Straits Times reveals.

Speaking at a recent media lunch in Singapore, Swiss Bankers Assocation chief executive Dr Urs Roth reportedly said that there is no truth to the idea of European financial hubs losing a huge chunk of assets due to Eastward moves to comply with banking secrecy regulations. He also added that there has not been a significant outflow of European wealth into Asia.

"We see the Asian financial centres very much as financial centres which attract the regional wealth," Dr Roth was quoted to have said. However, he did not discount the notion that if European laws go overboard, wealth could still flow out of the region.

According to the news service, Dr Roth predicted that five years from now the world will be composed of several wealth management hubs with no single dominating centre, composed of Geneva, Hong Kong, London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, and Zurich.

The Swiss Bankers Association represents over 400 Swiss banks worldwide.