Last December, media reports emerged that DBS, the Singapore-listed firm, and Julius Baer, the Swiss bank that calls Asia its second home market, could bid for the business.

Barclays’ desire to sell its Asian private wealth unit happens as its new chief executive, Jes Staley, seeks to cut costs, pull out of non-core or sub-scale businesses and boost profits.

The move suggests that for all the commentary there has been about the surge in the number of Asian high net worth and ultra-high net worth persons, the market has been challenging for some firms, in part because of costs of doing business and competition from local names.

If Barclays makes the move, it will follow the case of Societe Generale, which in early 2014 agreed to sell its Singapore-headquartered private bank to DBS. Royal Bank of Scotland sold its non-UK wealth businesses (apart from its trusts group), including an Asian group, to Union Bancaire Privée last year. In 2009, Netherlands-listed ING, seeking to recover from the financial crisis, sold its private bank in Asia to OCBC. Banque Internationale a Luxembourg has shuttered its Singapore office, while bolstering its presence in the Gulf.