Every year, hundreds of Chinese private bankers gather in Hongqiao, a nondescript corner of smog-shrouded Shanghai, to learn the basics of wealth management. Chatting between sessions over beef noodle soup, after a frantic exchange of business cards, the talk can turn to favoured destinations for the rapidly increasing number of wealthy Chinese. The current hot spot is undoubtedly Singapore.
But whether the tiny tropical state, once dismissed by its neighbours as a “Little Red Dot” on the map, can continue its rapid transformation into the “Zurich of the East” depends on the answers to three questions. How quickly can the country reorientate itself to new markets? Can the banks cope with a more international clientele? And will regulators be able to preserve a clean reputation?
“Singapore is preparing for huge growth from Chinese wealthy clients,” confirms Shanghai-born Sherrie Dai, head of China private banking for Standard Chartered.