SINGAPORE: Unlike other financial institutions, DBS Group Holdings has expanded its Russian-speaking wealth management staff, according to a report from Bloomberg earlier this week.
Just this year, DBS, the biggest lender in Singapore, hired two more Russian-speaking private bankers, for a total of at least nine.
DBS appears to be bucking the trends followed by other banks. Bloomberg pointed out that out of concern over possible penalties from Europe and the United States, banks such as HSBC and UBS have either limited their ties to wealthy Russian clients or else have cut them altogether.
But, in the past couple of years, since DBS has added private bankers who cater to such clients, from companies such as Julius Baer Group and Credit Suisse, it is now the go-to wealth manager for high-net-worth Russians living in Asia.
In fact, one of the bankers who began working for DBS last September had previously worked with Credit Suisse.
Bloomberg noted, however, that DBS’ Russian wealth assets are small in comparison to the total amount of wealth it handles for other clients, but this is still completely different from how other banks are handling the situation.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, unilateral sanctions were imposed by many countries, including Singapore, on Russian banks and wealth.
However, some institutions have continued to manage the assets that have not been placed under sanctions.
A spokesperson for DBS was quoted by Bloomberg as saying, “Like any other responsible bank, we welcome any client who favours our suite of products and services and we thank them for choosing us.
“However, we will not deal with anyone who falls foul of our controls (including sanctions screening or money laundering surveillance) or our risk appetite.”
The spokesperson added that the bank does not desist from dealing with Russians “unless they are subject to sanctions in their individual capacity.”
“Every client is an individual to be treated on his or her own merits,” he also said.
Meanwhile, hopes for the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to end are mounting across the globe, in spite of a recent escalation in hostilities.
Russia thanked Qatar and a number of other nations that are willing to host negotiations, although a spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, said on Dec 4 (Wednesday) that there are no grounds for negotiations yet.
“Many countries have declared their readiness to provide their territory,” an Al-Jazeera report quotes Mr Peskov as saying.
Qatar has aided in mediating the return of Russian and Ukrainian children several times since the conflict began. /TISG
Read also: Vivian Balakrishnan hopes China uses its ‘enormous influence’ on Russia to end Ukraine conflict
