SINGAPORE (Reuters) - HSBC
Chris Meares, CEO of HSBC's global private banking, told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit in Singapore that the financial crisis is creating opportunities for acquisitions as valuations for private banking assets have declined globally.
"We don't really comment on any specifics, but like others we have looked at it," he said when asked if HSBC is bidding for ING's private banking assets in Switzerland and Asia.
"What's attractive (about ING) is that you never see these businesses come up for sale."
He said the price of private banking assets have come down to as low as 1-2 percent of assets, compared to 5 percent before the financial crisis struck in 2007.
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"There are some opportunities now that didn't exist two years ago. There is no doubt with the industry profits coming down, valuations have got a little better, become more interesting at least for a buyer."
However, Meares said some growth assets such as those in Asia could still command a price of 2-3 percent of assets under management.
He said HSBC has started to hire bankers after it took some "corrective" actions at the start of the year.
Meares said next year HSBC could boost its global headcount by single-digit percentage after flat growth this year and 10 percent increases before the crisis.
HSBC managed about $430 billion in assets including trust assets, he said, adding it is the world's fifth-biggest private bank.
(Reporting by Saeed Azhar, Kevin Lim, Neil Chatterjee and Jean Yoon; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
