The recently-appointed head of Southeast Asian private banking has his eyes on a significant increase in the number of Singapore-based bankers who deal with Chinese clients, whether they be in Mainland China, or reside in the Asian city-state.

JP Morgan intends to double the number of private bankers serving Chinese clients from Singapore over the next two years, a report said.

The US-based bank has about a dozen private bankers in Singapore serving Chinese residents and those living in mainland China, Bloomberg quoted James Wey, new head of Southeast Asian private banking, as saying.

“Singapore is a natural hub for wealth management because of the very clear and investor-friendly regulation,” Wey told the news service. “The wealthy, not just from China, but all over the world, view the country as a stable hub.”

Wey has recently announced plans to merge the team serving the Indian diaspora with those handling Singapore residents, effective from the start of this month, the report added.

WealthBriefingAsia has contacted JP Morgan to confirm details and may update this article in due course.

On the US firm’s investment side, in April JP Morgan Asset Management appointed a new head of Singapore and Southeast Asia, Sherene Ban. She replaced Stephen Billet, who left the firm in February. Ban is based in Singapore.