UBS is seeking a return to business as usual after Chinese officials stopped one of its private bankers. Some of its rivals have swung into action, urging their private bankers to travel with caution.
A female private banker at Switzerland's biggest bank was detained at the airport in Beijing last week, as finews.asia reported on Saturday. She received her passport back but remains in Beijing for questioning.
The case sent shockwaves through the Chinese wealth management industry, which is booming as China slowly opens its markets to big foreign banks like UBS, J.P. Morgan, and Citigroup. Several banks including Julius Baer reportedly responded to the move with travel restrictions or banks.
«Travel Freely»
UBS is returning to business as usual, it told finews.asia on Tuesday: «UBS would like to confirm that we allow all our staff to travel freely in and out of the country and it is business as usual for us in China,» the bank said in a statement.
Several rival wealth managers are moving in the other direction: Citigroup, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, and JPMorgan are asking their private bankers to push back or to rethink any trips to China, «Reuters» reported. Julius Baer has urged bankers to exercise caution, the agency reported.
UBS emphasized that it remains committed to expanding its business on the mainland, where veteran banker Eugene Qian oversees all of its businesses as country head and president. The Swiss bank has declined to comment on the detention of the private banker, who is based in Singapore. It remains unclear why she was targeted by Chinese officials.
