| It probably won't be long before the name Wheelock NatWest is forgotten. Many outside Hong Kong will not even know it existed. A brokerage, with a corporate finance arm and a fund manager attached; capitalized at $125 million, with 250 staff, and seven offices across Asia; it did virtually nothing in two and a half years. It has only one major point of interest. Former employees say it was as good as destroyed by one of its own shareholders, NatWest. It provides a good example of the pitfalls of joint ventures, especially in a difficult region like Asia. A joint statement in November by the two partners, NatWest Markets and Wheelock, a Hong Kong property conglomerate, said that the joint venture was wound up because of "a number of changes in the industry, and in the overall regulatory environment". However, it is clear that regulatory barriers were not the real problem. "We entered the joint venture with a long-term view in mind," says John Howland-Jackson, chairman of NatWest Markets Asia. "And Wheelock fulfilled all their obligations and contributed whatever they could. But things changed in the world of NatWest Markets." |