Oct/090
Singapore Private Banking Catching Up With Swiss Private Banking
Is it for real?
So Singapore private banking has experienced huge growth over the last 10 years or so. With 300Bn in managed wealth, Singapore is reckoned to manage 5% of worldwide private banking assets.
This has much to do with Singapore’s strict privacy laws, but also just as much to do with the rise in the number of millionaries throughout Asia.
Yet the mass exodus of assets from Switzerland to Singapore hasn’t happened yet. The Swiss stand strong with 25% of the world’s private wealth under their prudent guardianship. 5 times as much as the Singapore.
So what’s the deal? Keep reading this singapore private banking article.
Oct/090
Are You Worred About The Future? Swiss Banks Share Your Pain!
Ever worried about what 2010 holds in store for you?
Swiss private banks are feeling the same..according to a survey conducted by Geneve Place Financiere, a body representing Swiss financial firms.
Solitary Swiss banks feel the pain
Relaxation of bank secrecy, less enthusiastic European and US investors, and OECD bullying have contributed to a gloomier than usual outlook for next year.
“The dominant sentiment coming from this survey on the present and future of the financial centre is mitigated, even pessimistic,” said Ivan Pictet, the group’s president.
The Swiss also have reason to feel sorry for themselves - they say the financial crisis was not their doing, but the fault of larger European neighbours and the US.
”The Swiss financial centre has been the victim”, said Pictet, who is also senior partner of a large swiss private bank.
Survey participants indicated that short-term prospects would not improve in any private banking sector, but drew hope from increasing numbers of Middle-Eastern and Russian depositors.
Oct/090
Singapore Private Banking: Clients Prefer ´´Self-Directed´´ Investment
Every savvy investor knows that even the most trusted private bank is prone to plugging its own products. While some private banking clients are happy to take a back seat, more and more are looking to direct their own investments, and take responsibility for risks. This is the message coming from Singapore private banking investors, according to delegates at the Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit held this 5-7th October in international financial centres worldwide.
Singapore Private Banking - Clients Like To Be In The Driving Seat
Excellent financial advice equals financial peace of mind, ideally HNWI´s can invest in creating a secure and comfortable future for themselves and their families - but even investing with notable global private banks might not fulfill that need. Fortunately, by the end of this article you will know exactly how to get private banking that´s not fueled by over-priced, under-performing products.
According to analysts, big banks like UBS are not operating the correct business model, particularly within the Asian market. A focus on product sales rather than improving advice and portfolio performance leads to a failure to build long-term client relationships.
“The challenge is to provide real quality advice that will make the difference,” says Justin Ong, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Asia Pacific wealth management in Singapore.
Instead, offshore private banking needs to put more resources into providing top notch trust and estate planning services, a market with great potential for growth as first generation Asian entrepreneurs age, analysts say.
“The challenge is to provide real quality advice that will make the difference,” said Ong.
Additionally Asian clients are looking to make their own decisions regarding FX and the stockmarkets.
“It is very common for us in Asia to have a client who is CEO of a large corporation or a billionaire who takes personal decisions in FX or trades FX actively or trades fixed-income or whatever he is investing in,” said Debashish Dutta Gupta, Citigroup head of investments for Asia-Pacific wealth management.
More standalone, streamlined private banking services are popping up to fill the demand. One example is Capital Conservator, which offers private bank accounts in multiple-currencies with trading facilities, promising total privacy and total investor control. An important benefit is that Capital Conservator does not sell any of its own investment products, leaving the focus on pure banking. With a reasonable 1% entry rate, this self-directed private bank account, may well be the future of private banking.
Oct/090
Independent Wealth Manager OR Private Bank Attached To A Global Investment Bank - Which Is Best?
Are you better investing with a smaller independent firm, or one of the global organisations like UBS, Citigroup or J.P.Morgan?
Before the credit crunch, the big financial institutions lured investors with the strength of their investment banking arms. The idea being - if bankers were clever enough to make billions with the investment banking side, they could work the same magic with a private bank account.
But the last couple of years have shown a change in policy after huge write-downs at investment banks, and some like Lehmann Brothers or Bear Sterns going down altogether. When big investment banks like UBS suffered in the sub-prime mortgage crisis their private banking arms took a reputation hit.
The big financial institutions argue that they offer a “one-stop-shop” if you will, and can offer a broader range of financial services which are difficult to replicate in a smaller organisation.The bank can attend to not only the client’s personal needs but also those of his company.
Most of all, big banks market their “in-house” experts and teams of reseachers who can help their private banking clients stay one step ahead.
Smaller private banks and trusts take an opposing view. What they offer is a more open system whereby clients pick and choose from a range of external invesment products. In many cases these very same independent private banks are clients of the large financial services companies.
Sep/090
UK and Switzerland Amend Double Taxation Treaty
Swiss Bank Secrecy Threatened Again - What Are the Alternatives?
Swiss and UK authorities added to an existing double taxation treaty on Thursday by agreeing to OECD standards for transparency and information exchange. It is expected that the new treaty, if and when it comes into force, will be used to help combat tax evasion.
The agreement is part of a worrying relaxation of bank secrecy in Switzerland, coming after the release of confidential account details to both France and the US. This latest agreement has the capacity to affect even those who have no relation with the UK, if the UK manages to pass on information which it has discovered about the citizens of other countries.
Since March, Switzerland has operated a new policy concerning international cooperation in tax matters, and agreed to adopt article 26 of the OECD Model Double Tax Convention.
Despite the worrying signs, there is still hope. Although the Swiss government has agreed this treaty, it must still ratified by the Swiss internally. Furthermore, laws in Switzerland are subject to a referendum and repeal with a petition of 50,000 signatures. For Swiss citizens, it must seem the benefits of keeping bank secrecy surely outweigh the disadvantages.
Even so, privacy-seekers are constantly on the lookout for alternatives which might still keep their identity confidential where a Swiss bank account fails. At the forefront of developing viable financial alternatives are offshore financial companies such as Capital Conservator - which manage to keep customer identities confidential irrespective of changes in bank secrecy.
Find out more about about confidential private banking and private bank accounts.
Aug/090
Swiss Private Bank UBS Reveals 4,450 Private Bank Accounts To IRS
The Swiss government has agreed to lift bank secrecy on 4,450 private banking accounts in order to settle a tax evasion dispute with US authorities. The accounts as Swiss Private Bank UBS had been the subject of protracted legal wranglings.
Swiss Bank Secrecy - Still Gold Standard?
The IRS had alledged that up to 52′000 wealthy Americans were dodging taxes by parking funds in secret private accounts at the bank.
The Swiss government was resistant to handing over names of account holders since tax evasion is not a crime under Swiss law. It was argued that handing over confidential records without actual evidence of a crime would break Swiss bank secrecy laws.
However, in order to prevent continuing bad press both towards the Swiss government and UBS (in which the government has a stake), the Swiss agreed to hand over a certain number of clients, allowing the American government to save face at the same time.
This agreement prevents US authorities from gaining knowledge of every US account holder, but it is expected that the largest tax-evading accounts will be among those revealed.
While media are keen to signal the agreement as an “end” to swiss bank secrecy, it is only Swiss banks with US operations that were targeted in the IRS probe. Swiss private banks without US operations are under no compulsion to hand over confidential information except with proven evidence of crime.
Aug/090
Opening a Private Bank Account Online
Capital Conservator Private Banking have launched a cutting-edge priority banking service, following increasing inquiries from very large depositors. Features include extreme privacy, close personal attention and the ability to open private bank accounts remotely. The service expects to attract entrepreneurs and business owners along with selected wealth managers….
More about online private banking
Jul/090
Swiss Private Banks
How Far Can You Trust Swiss Private Banking?
Swiss Private Banking has come under fire for the UBS scandal and IRS probes into tax evasion by wealthy Americans.
Will Swiss private banks still protect bank secrecy? What other alternatives are out there?
The signs coming from the Swiss government over bank secrecy look promising. Faced with the prospect of UBS revealing financial records, the Swiss government promised to seize the confidential information before it could be handed over to US Authorities!
It’s not in Swiss interest to break bank secrecy. It’s not in the interest of Swiss Private Banks to do this either, because they will lose some of their most valuable private clients.
Private Banking Your Money Will Love
Having said that, the Swiss still must play a game of give and take. Bank Secrecy is not “over” - but overt tax evasion is. While the Swiss would previously turn a blind eye to all tax issues except tax fraud (e.g. forging a signature on a tax return), they will now exchange information in cases where the foreign government has good evidence of suspected tax evasion - without “automatic” exchange. It will still be hard for foreign governments to pursue this line of attack unless they have a definite target.
This tells us if you are not breaking tax laws at home, if you are not laundering drug-money or financing terrorism, Swiss bank secrecy will stand strong for you.
But Swiss Banks are now wary of taking on American clients because the tax evasion issue is still too “hot”, especially under the Obama administration. They are wary of being held responsible for the tax liabilities of American clients, when an 800lb gorilla lurks across the pond ready to take legal action.
Alternative Private Banking
Many private Swiss banks work on an “introduction” basis. A financial professional, lawyer or current client will “introduce” a client to the bank. Without such an introduction its very difficult to open an account, especially if you don’t live in Switzerland! Yet paying for the “introduction fee” can cost many thousands of dollars.
For those that still require the best bank secrecy and personal service the world has to offer, Private bank accounts at “Capital Conservator” are an excellent alternative.
This private banking service holds your private bank account in a Swiss Trust Company. Swiss Trust laws are separate from standard Swiss Banking Laws, and the confidentiality of a Swiss Trust is much harder to break. Even in a DIRECT attack on Swiss banking, Swiss Trust privacy is not affected.
They have a dedicated private banking arm that caters to an exclusive group of wealthy clients. I’m hearing from the inside that for the next couple of months only you can join WITHOUT an introduction. After this its going to be by reference ONLY. I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to last, and its one of the only zero-introduction Swiss private banking services out there. You can cut out the middle man and save yourself thousands of dollars if you act quickly….
Heres the link to the private bank account
Heres the private banking area of their website.
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