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新加坡:亞洲銀行業的瑞士

(2012-07-24 01:47:01) 下一個
作者: Katherine Ryder    時間: 2010年11月03日    來源: 財富中文網
 
在瑞士銀行業沒落的同時,新加坡的私人銀行業卻日趨繁榮。這個“城邦”如何成為亞洲新貴的首選之地?
 
 

    上月初,私人銀行領域的幾位重量級人物在新加坡匯聚一堂,召開了一次峰會。這個極為隱秘的小圈子專為頂級高端客戶提供服務。

    這次峰會在新加坡召開絕非偶然。由於政策法規方麵的嚴厲製裁,瑞士銀行業大量資金外流。新加坡趁機自我標榜為私人銀行領域的後起之秀。據波士頓谘詢集團(Boston Consulting Group)的數據,現在新加坡共擁有5,000億美元私人銀行資產,而2008年這一數字隻有3,000億。

    新加坡的私人銀行業務之所以迅速膨脹,還有一個重要原因,那就是:越來越多的亞洲人日漸變得富裕起來。美林/凱捷(Merrill Lynch/Capgemini)的一項研究表明,從2009年~2018年的10年間,中國和印度的高淨值私人客戶的數量將增加近2倍,個人財富總增長近4萬億美元。新加坡地處亞洲經濟高速發展的核心地區,而且政治局勢穩定,因此成為亞洲新貴們存放財富的首選目標。人們普遍認為,中國和印度風險太大,同時很多投資人擔心,香港會越來越屈從於中國政府的威懾。

    一直以來,新加坡都在朝思暮想,盼望成為私人銀行業新的中心,並且為此不惜投以重金。自1997年亞洲金融危機以來,新加坡政府一貫不遺餘力,改善自身金融基礎設施。2000年,新加坡進一步強化了其銀行保密法,承諾賦予客戶全部隱私權。新加坡不對資本增益收稅,並且存款人可假借公司、信托基金以及有限責任公司的名義開設賬戶,從而給超高淨值個人客戶提供了極大的便利。此外,新加坡政府還提供減免稅政策,鼓勵外國公司將區域性總部設在新加坡。

    盡管去年私人銀行領域動蕩不已,特別是美國政府曾以欺詐罪起訴瑞銀證券公司(UBS),並且要求其提供5,000名非法逃稅的美國富豪的姓名,但業內人士表示,新加坡幾乎毫發未損。經濟合作與發展組織(OECD)手上有一份不征收離岸稅的地區/國家的“灰色名單”,新加坡位居其中。外國政府對這些地區虎視眈眈,威脅要進一步嚴查。有鑒於此,新加坡已經同意,不僅會遵守《稅收交換協議》(Tax Exchange Agreements),而且會協助外國政府進行必要的刑事調查。但是那些對國內/離岸銀行業最為關注的國家,卻並不是新加坡那些最大銀行客戶的所在國(如印度、中國和印度尼西亞)。

私人銀行人業務成為大眾市場

    於是我們也就毫不奇怪,全球各地的銀行為何紛紛在新加坡設立區域性私人銀行業務分支機構。摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)曾於9月份表示,未來3年內,該公司亞洲理財部門的員工數會翻番。瑞士瑞信銀行(Credit Suisse)私人銀行部門的負責人最近也對路透透視(Reuters Insider)表示,在該銀行開設賬戶的富裕亞洲客戶,其資產增加值將會超出預期,到2012年底,會增加20%以上。“我們預計,本銀行管理的資產到年底將增長25%,”渣打銀行(Standard Chartered Bank)新加坡分行私人銀行部門負責人拉葉什•馬爾卡尼指出。

    新加坡私人銀行業的迅速繁榮也引發了一些軼聞趣事。如同任何一個發展迅猛的行業一樣,私人銀行領域對人才的需求遠超於供給。於是,業內人士紛紛抱怨說,在新加坡工作的私人銀行家一哄而上爭搶飯碗的現象極為普遍,哪家給的工資多就去哪兒。2007年,香港甚至有謠傳說,人際網絡強大的美發師們紛紛放棄本職,轉往私人銀行領域發展。

    現在有跡象表明,該行業已經開始成熟。“各銀行招人的要求一向都很簡單,那就是:至少管理著1.5億美元資產的客戶關係經理,”獵頭機構Kerry Consulting公司董事總經理迪克蘭•奧薩利文表示。

    該行業走向成熟的另一個標誌是,小客戶日益增加。一些業內人士表示,與瑞士一樣,新加坡的私人銀行業務也開始走向大眾市場。在私人銀行,現在拿張200萬或者300萬美元的支票,就能開設賬戶;而無需再像以前一樣,至少需要2,000萬美元的支票才能開設賬戶。

    私人銀行業的擴張勢必會帶來工作機會,這正是新加坡求之不得的。2003年,在新加坡兩家主權財富基金GIC和Temasek的資助下,新加坡財富管理學院(Wealth Management Institute)正式成立。自2004年起,該學院已經培養了2,500名學生。“今年入學的人數增長過半,”該學院執行董事兼首席執行官辛茜亞•提翁表示。

    結果顯而易見:無論瑞士銀行業去年發生多大的地震,金融服務業都會順應形勢,確保世界上最富有的人的利益得到保障。

    譯者:紅權

相關稿件
 
Singapore: Asia's Switzerland for banking

 作者: Katherine Ryder    時間: 2010年11月03日    來源: 財富中文網

    
While Swiss banks suffer, private bankers in Singapore are booming. How the city-state became the go-to destination for Asia's new wealth.

 

    Earlier this month, several of the most important players in the private banking sector—a clubby, secretive group serving uber-high-end clients—gathered for a summit in Singapore.

    The location of the meeting was hardly accidental. As Swiss banks have seen dramatic outflows after a regulatory crackdown, Singapore has asserted itself as the new kid on the block in the private banking sector. According to the Boston Consulting Group, Singapore now has $500 billion in private banking assets, up from $300 billion in 2008.

    There's one overriding reason for Singapore's private-banking boom: Asians are getting richer, and more numerous. The number of high-net worth individuals in China and India will nearly triple in the decade ending in 2018, adding about $4 trillion in individual wealth, according to a Merrill Lynch/Capgemini study. Singapore, with its central location and stable government, is a logical place to go. India and China are viewed as too risky, and many investors fear that Hong Kong is increasingly under the purview of Beijing.

    Singapore has been anticipating this shift—and working to catalyze it. Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Singapore's government has made a concerted effort to boost the city-state's financial infrastructure. In 2000, Singapore strengthened its bank secrecy laws, promising clients total privacy. It helps that there are no taxes on capital gains, and that depositors are able to open accounts in the guise of corporations, trusts, and limited liability corporations, which is how most ultra-high-net-worth individuals manage their money. The government also offers tax incentives to companies setting up their regional headquarters in Singapore.

    Although the world of private banking changed last year -- when the U.S. government charged UBS with fraud and demanded the names of around 5,000 wealthy, tax-evading U.S. clients --insiders say Singapore has been little affected. It is on the OECD's "gray list" of offshore tax havens that foreign governments are threatening to scrutinize further—and so has agreed to comply with Tax Exchange Agreements and assist foreign governments with criminal investigations. But the countries that seem to care most about onshore/offshore banking are not the home governments of Singapore's richest account holders (e.g. India, China, and Indonesia).

 

Private banking goes mass market

    Little wonder, then, that global banks have been ramping up their regional private banking operations in Singapore. Morgan Stanley said last month that it plans to double its Asia head count in wealth management over the next three years. Credit Suisse's head of private banking recently told Reuters Insider that new assets from rich Asian clients will exceed its growth forecasts, increasing by more than 20% by the end of 2012. "We expect to end the year with 25% growth in assets under management," says Rajesh Malkani, the regional head of private banking in Singapore for Standard Chartered Bank.

    The rush has also brought some interesting side-stories. As in any rapidly growing industry, demand for talent in private banking outstrips supply. As a result, insiders complain that too many private bankers working on the Singapore scene are playing musical chairs, jumping from company to company at first sight of a sweeter pay package. In 2007, there were stories out of Hong Kong that well-connected hairdressers would be turned into private bankers.

    Now, the industry is showing evidence of having matured a bit. "The simple request will always be, give me a relationship manager with at least $150 million in assets under management," says Declan O'Sullivan, managing director of Kerry Consulting, a headhunting firm.

    Further evidence of a maturing industry is an increasing number of smaller players. Some insiders say Singapore, like Switzerland, is taking private banking mass market. A check for $2 to $3 million can open an account in a private bank; the typical $20 million check is no longer required.

    And that broadening of the industry, circularly, has made room for even more jobs—which Singapore is happy to fill. The Wealth Management Institute, conceived in 2003 with the help of Singapore's two sovereign wealth funds, GIC and Temasek, has graduated 2,500 students from its courses since 2004. "This year, we're already experiencing more than 50% increase in enrollment in our programs for 2010," says Cynthia Teong, the institute's Executive Director and CEO.

    The upshot is simple and clear. Whatever happens to Switzerland, the financial services industry will morph as needed to make sure that the world's super-rich are well taken care of.

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