Return to UBS tops private banking poll
HSBC Private Bank
HSBC Private Bank advises on trusts in 23 locations and provides administration from 16 locations in three time zones. “For example,” says Clive Bannister, chief executive officer of group private banking (pictured), “take somewhere as far away as New Zealand. We can provide advice on how our core fiduciary capability in New Zealand can work for various clients but then the administration would be done out of a mainstream international financial centre such as Hong Kong or Geneva.” The bank is also in the process of developing its operating platforms to become a single trust administration system, which in due course will be able to be adopted in each location while fully meeting client confidentiality parameters.
It’s little surprise then that HSBC is ranked as best provider of trust services to high-net-worth clients globally in this year’s Euromoney survey. HSBC’s trust business sits in the wealth advisory services (WAS) division. With its employees numbering some 20% of HSBC Private Bank’s workforce, WAS has expertise in areas including the establishment and administration of trusts, insurance and corporate structures as part of generational financial planning and specific advice on tax and financial planning.
In addition, the family office advisory and corporate finance advisory services fall under this area. “The division is there to assist individuals and their families in managing the trans-generational issues of wealth, which are often highly sophisticated and complex – and often with institutional needs,” says Bannister.
In the US, HSBC has the largest tax practice of any private bank there, with some 280 specialists dedicated to giving tax advice.
But it is not only the issue of tax that encourages the establishment of trusts, explains Bannister. “Over two-thirds of the trust business comes from clients with no tax exposure at all, like the Middle East where there are few or no tax obligations. Clients instead use a trust structure to manage their affairs – perhaps to create a charitable foundation to separate corporate assets and family money, or to handle divorce settlements.”
HSBC Private Bank does not work only directly with the wealthy. Bannister says that the bank is currently building the business to incorporate more intermediaries.
“To source the most appropriate structure which suits specific client needs, we often work with legal and tax advisers,” he says. “As such, we are looking to more actively promote our services to the intermediary marketplace.”
HSBC Private Bank is also named as best provider of Islamic banking services in Euromoney’s global private banking rankings, and as fourth best global private bank.
