Swiss banking group Credit Suisse has said that it is expanding presence in Southeast Asia with the opening of a new representative office in the Philippines.
Credit Suisse Group AG said that it has received regulatory approval to launch its wealth management business in the Philippines, in a bid to take advantage of the growing onshore wealth and increasing number of Ultra-High-Net-Worth-Individuals (UNHWIs) in the Southeast Asian country.
Credit Suisse has received a license from the Securities and Exchange Commission and approval from the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, to set up a representative office for its wealth management business, it said in a statement.
Credit Suisse has been in the Philippines since 1992 and already provides some financing and advisory services and has an onshore brokerage covering equity research, sales, sales trading and execution.
As reported, last year, Credit Suisse appointed Michael De Guzman as country manager Philippines and head of Philippines coverage for investment banking and capital markets. Christian Senn was also named market group head Philippines for private banking Asia Pacific, based in Singapore.
Phillipines wealth
Total household wealth in the Philippines grew by 10.7 a year since 2000 to reach $662bn in 2017, according to Credit Suisse Research Institute’s Global Wealth Report 2017.
The number of ultra-high net worth individuals with more than $50m in net wealth grew 13% over the same period to over 400, the report said, adding this is likely to continue to rise by an estimated 10% a year in the next five years.
