HSBC chases wealthy clients in India with private bank launch

CITY A.M. REPORTERS

HSBC YESTERDAY said it would target business with India’s wealthy as it launched its global private banking business in the country.

Europe’s largest bank said the new unit was aimed at ‘high-net-worth’ and ‘ultra-high-net-worth’ clients in India with investable assets of more than $2m.

HSBC is pursuing a strategy of further expansion in Asia –which generates the bulk of its profit –and in high-margin services including wealth management, as it sheds under-performing consumer businesses in other parts of the world.

The bank has been rolling out its global private banking arm in various countries in recent years, including in Thailand in 2021 and in Mexico, UAE, and various cities in China in 2022.

HSBC is in talks to recruit a team of senior Middle East wealth managers from stricken rival Credit Suisse as part of its efforts globally to bulk up in private banking, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Ethos Foundation, which represents a Swiss pension funds that owned more than three per cent of Credit Suisse, “has decided to support the Lausanne-based startup Legalpass in its legal action against the exchange ratio set in the context of the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS,” it said in a statement.

Under the deal, sealed last month, Credit Suisse shareholders were offered one UBS share for 22.48 Credit Suisse shares, valuing the stricken bank at 3bn Swiss francs ($3.35bn).

Just 48 hours before the deal was struck, Credit Suisse was worth 7bn francs, Ethos said.

“The exchange ratio... was really not in the best interest of Credit Suisse’s shareholders and there is room to improve it,” said Ethos chief executive Vincent Kaufmann.

If successful, all Credit Suisse shareholders would benefit from the new exchange ratio, it said.

The case is the latest legal battle prompted by the emergency takeover, with holders of Credit Suisse’s Additional Tier 1 bonds - which were all written down to zero –also claiming compensation.