Private Banking

Major Corporate banks have long recognised the attractions in establishing private banking operations in International Financial Service Centres (IFSC).

The cornerstones on which the private banking industry is built are:

• Confidentiality.
• A concern for privacy.
• The absence of withholding taxes.
• High levels of personal service.

Where do private clients bank?

Demand for international private banking services is driven by both the need to manage risk and desire to minimise taxation and his partially explains the distribution of where today’s private clients’ bank.

Switzerland remains the dominant private banking centre, accounting for approximately a third of offshore wealth, followed by London and New York. It is noteworthy that the offshore banking centres account for a smaller proportion of these clients than the onshore centres. The relative positions of these banking centres are being influenced as:

• Sources of wealth change.
• Offshore investors become more demanding and more sophisticated.
• Private banks reorganise their activities to meet these opportunities.
• Investors participating in a “flight for quality”.

Offshore Banking Units provide a range of services, which are shown below:

• Basic: Foreign Exchange, Telegraphic Transfers, Cheque, Accounts, Time Deposits, Call Deposits, Certificates of Deposits, Credit and Debit Cards.
• Investment: Stock and other Instruments, Safekeeping, Portofolio management, Custody, Advisory Products, Investments Products, Insurance Products.
• Support: Trustee Services, Company Formation and Management, Accountancy Services.