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SHANGHAI – The Swiss Bank
UBS
Group AG has asked some of its bankers to reconsider their trip to China as a result of a request from the country's authorities to one of its wealth managers to assist in investigations, said a no one familiar with the situation.
The nature of the investigation and the interest of the authorities to talk with the banker, a woman from Singapore, is not known, said this person Saturday. The person said that the woman currently in Beijing does not face legal problems herself, is in possession of her passport and should talk to the judicial authorities in the coming days.
UBS's warning to employees concerns only the company's asset managers and advises them to consider suspending their trips to China for a few days as new information becomes available, the person said.
The familiar person refused to confirm the woman's identity. The name of a wealth management UBS woman was widely broadcast on social media in China this weekend in a message claiming she was not allowed to leave the country last week. An email that was sent to him was returned with a message from the office. The Singapore Embassy in Beijing and its Foreign Ministry did not immediately answer the questions.
UBS describes itself as the world's largest wealth manager and says that wealthy individuals in China are at the heart of its business in Asia. "Seizing growth opportunities in China is at the heart of our strategy," the bank said in its 2017 annual report, referring to regional wealth management activities. The company had 1.15 trillion Swiss francs ($ 974 billion) in wealth management invested outside the Americas at the end of last year.
In Shanghai, UBS spoils its wealthy clients in a luxury Chinese villa showcasing contemporary art.
Wealth managers are at a risky juncture in China, as they manage money for a wealthy population that wants to invest internationally, but must handle rules that may be obscure as to what can legally be transferred out of the country.
The weakening of the Chinese economy has made the authorities particularly vigilant in the face of capital flight over the past three years, and have repeatedly warned that offenders will be prosecuted. Last year, the government criticized the global investments of companies such as Anbang Insurance Group Co., Dalian Wanda Group and HNA Group Co., after the Chinese central bank spent about $ 1 trillion on about 18 months to offset the effects of capital flight.
Concerns about the weakening of the Chinese economy this year have shaken confidence in the country's currency – at $ 6.9296 per dollar, the yuan lost about 6% of its value this year – although analysts say that government vigilance has reduced pressure on exit flows compared to the end of 2015.
Meanwhile, Chinese law enforcement forces have long been enforcing exit bans to keep foreign nationals in the country during investigations or for other purposes. The authorities say that foreigners are subject to the same laws as Chinese citizens.
A young woman who worked in wealth management services at
Standard Chartered
PLC, who had traveled with a Singapore passport, was detained in eastern China for three months in 2012 and was not allowed to leave the country for several months while the local police was investigating the client of his bank, which they accused of leaving the country and having transferred a package of money that was not his. The banker now lives in the United States.
Write to James T. Areddy at [email protected]
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