HSBC chases wealthy clients in India with private bank launch

LONDON: HSBC said on Tuesday 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 $2 million.

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.