London-headquartered Standard Chartered is adding more branches in Hong Kong to tap growing opportunities from high net worth individuals in the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia.
Standard Chartered plans to open three new branches in Hong Kong specifically targeting high net worth customers from the 11-city Greater Bay Area as well as Southeast Asia, according to an «SCMP» report citing Hong Kong CEO Mary Huen.
The branches will be located in tourist hotspots in the city. This follows two branches that were opened in the past two years in the midst of the Covid lockdown. The bank also plans to hire more for the new retail banking outlets after adding about 300 staff in the first half of the year.
Rebounding Activity
In the first half of 2023, pre-tax profits at Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong unit soared 166 percent year-on-year to $1.02 billion, driven mainly by higher income and lower credit impairments. The wealth management business also saw customer activity rebound in Hong Kong.
«After the border reopened, we have seen strong demand from Greater Bay Area residents coming to Hong Kong to open new accounts, buy insurance and other investment products,» Huen explained.
«In addition, we have seen strong interest from customers in the ASEAN countries who want to invest in the Greater Bay Area via Hong Kong, while mainland customers also want to use Hong Kong as a gateway to expand in the Asean countries.»
