HSBC, The Private Bank, and the Latin Dancing Lessons

GoldFinger

15 June 2006

If there is one thing private bankers guard more confidentially than their clients affairs, it is likely to be their own affairs. All the more embarrassing for Monica Wong, the head of HSBC Private Bank in Asia – aspects of whose private life have recently been revealed in a number of publications, including the Financial Times and the South China Morning Post. Ms Wong is suing her Latin dance teachers for the return of HK$62 million ($7.9 million) in prepaid fees after one instructor allegedly insulted her in front of a crowd in a Hong Kong restaurant, according a report in the SCMP. One of Hong Kong’s most senior private bankers agreed to pay HK$120 million ($15.5 million) for eight years’ worth of Latin dancing lessons, according to the reports. Ms Wong has told a Hong Kong court that she decided to cancel the contract and wanted her money back after a practice session in August 2004, during which her instructor, Mirko Saccani, offended her, say reports. What GoldFinger is most perplexed about is how expensive Ms Wong’s Latin dance lessons seem. Even if Mirko Saccani is the best Latin dancer in the world, nearly $2 million a year for personal dancing lessons would appear a bit steep. Or did GoldFinger choose the wrong career?