This is a big year for Singapore’s DBS Bank in Taiwan as it completes its $3 billion purchase of Citibank’s local consumer banking assets.
After the integration is done, DBS Treasures Private Client will enlarge its franchise with high net-worth customers by 370% and assets under management will skyrocket 575%. That huge jump is a financial expression of how committed DBS is to Taiwan’s tech-heavy economy.
This is not the first time that DBS has grown via acquisition in Taiwan. In 2016, it bought ANZ Group’s wealth management business in Taiwan. Two years later, DBS established its Treasures Private Client segment to continue with ANZ’s private banking business.
Now, the Citi transaction makes DBS the largest foreign bank in Taiwan. It also makes its wealth management business a hard one to rival.
In the decade since DBS’s Taiwan subsidiary was set up, its franchise has gone from strength to strength as it endeared itself to the local financial community. For example, it offered free Covid-19 vaccinations to Treasures Private Clients, a first by a foreign bank in Taiwan.
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