Taiwan's Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTCB) has launched its international private banking business in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Former Credit Suisse chief product officer and current CTCB head of private banking, Robert Russell, said the newest CTCB arm would bank on growing wealth in the region and will focus primarily on ethnic Chinese clients.
The bank recently appointed former ANZ Bank regional head of structured products and securities for retail and wealth business, Denis Harhalakis, as head of products for its Singapore team.
Former Bank of Sarasin Asia chief investment officer, Michael Coglin, and former Falcon Private Bank Singapore branch manager, Rajagopal Govindarajoo, have also joined the team.
CTCB's Hong Kong office is headed by Amanda Huang, Ringo Lau and company veteran and head of relationship manager teams, Phyllis Yang.
Huang was previously at ABN Amro while Lau was deputy managing director at BSI Investment Advisors.
The company is looking to increase its headcount by another 20 by the end of the year, as it expands to diversify revenue sources outside its home market and assume a more prominent position in the region's relatively sparsely populated private banking market.
CTCB Private Banking's primary offering will be portfolio advisory supported by account fee-based pricing, a departure from transaction-driven pricing.