International Banks Agree Not to Poach Local Talent in Singapore

Andrew Deane

21 November 2006

Two international groups, including UBS, and Standard Chartered, have informally agreed not to hire private bankers in Singapore from DBS and OCBC, according to an unconfirmed report in the Financial Times. According to the report, the banks are telling local headhunters that they don’t want to see CVs from the two local banks, and that the move is driven by the wishes of Singapore’s authorities which want a cooling off period after a spate of aggresseive hiring tactics. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has also held talks with all the large banks to make sure they observe recruiting guidelines set out earlier this year by the Association of Banks in Singapore, according to the FT. The shortage of private banking talent in Asia was today re-enforced by Kathryn Shih, head of wealth management Asia/Pacific at UBS. Speaking at Euromoney’s Second Annual Private Wealth Management Summit in Hong Kong, Ms Shih warned delegates that the acute shortage of talented private bankers was one of the major challenges facing the industry in the region. Ms Shih, who was responsible recently for the launch of the UBS Wealth Management Campus in Singapore, told delegates that training of non-wealth managers into wealth managers was the "major challenge".