The Bank of Singapore has become the very first Singaporean private bank to be granted an investment company licence by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier to operate a wealth management subsidiary in Luxembourg.

Through its new subsidiary, BOS Wealth Management Europe Société Anonyme, the banking giant will be able to offer a comprehensive range of customised private banking services and investment advice to its HNW clients in the European Economic Area (the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). At the moment it serves its European clients from its Singapore headquarters and through the London office of its parent company, OCBC Bank. It has seen steady growth in assets under management from EEA clients because they hold Singapore in high regard as a financial hub.

Anthony Adriano Simcic will be in charge of the firm in Luxembourg and will answer directly to Olivier Denis, the Bank of Singapore’s global market head. Simcic has 18 years of banking experience and used to be in charge at HSBC Private Bank in Luxembourg.

With BOS Wealth Management Europe SA set to begin operations in the third quarter of this year, with an official opening in the second quarter of next year, the parent bank planning to extend its coverage of the independent asset manager (IAM) business in Europe, where the concept of IAMs is commonplace.

The go-ahead to operate a wealth management subsidiary in Luxembourg comes at an opportune time. According to the 2017 Capegemini World Wealth report, the number of HNWs in Europe rose by 7.7% to 4.5 million – outpacing the 7.4% increase recorded for the Asia-Pacific region. In terms of privately-held wealth, Europe was the third fastest-growing region with an increase of 8.2%. This was on par with the Asia-Pacific region and just behind Latin America and Africa.

Since the world financial crisis began in 2008, European HNWs and family offices have shown more and more interest in Asia, and especially in Singapore, as a place to deposit (and from which to manage) their wealth.

Luxembourg, meanwhile, is ranked consistently among the top three financial centres in the European Union in the Global Financial Centres Index published by Z/Yen, the market intelligence firm. With more than €4 trillion in AuM, it is the largest investment fund centre in Europe and the second largest in the world, behind only the United States. With Luxembourg investment funds offered in more than 70 countries worldwide, it is also the largest global distribution centre for investment funds.

The very successful Specialised Investment Fund (SIF) regulatory regime has been in place in Luxembourg since early 2007 and is governed by the Law of 13 February 2007 on Specialised Investment Funds. An amendment to the law in 2012 forbade the opening of a SIF without CSSF approval. The CSSF must now also approve everyone who will perform each fund's intellectual portfolio management, checking to see whether they are honorable and have enough experience and expertise in the type of SIF to be managed.