(SINGAPORE) It won't be long now before the folks at DBS private bank will know whether their department will more than double in size following a major deal yesterday in which the Swiss private banking assets of ING will be sold to Julius Baer. The question is whether DBS will lay its hands on ING's private banking business here.

Julius Baer yesterday said it will buy ING's Swiss private banking which has 10 billion euros (S$20.6 billion) assets under management for 344 million euros.

As part of its global restructuring, the Dutch bank is selling its Asian and Swiss private banking units in what would be the biggest deal in the wealth management industry since the credit crisis began.

Up for grabs next is ING Asia Private Bank which employs 500 people, some 300 plus of them in Singapore. ING Asia Private Bank, which is locally incorporated and whose home regulator is the Monetary Authority of Singapore, has assets under management of 11.6 billion euros. It has 150 relationship managers in Asia. Besides Singapore, it also has operations in Hong Kong, Manila and Dubai.

HSBC and DBS have been widely reported to be the bidders for ING's Asian private banking arm. Some reports say ING Asia Private Bank, which posted net profit after tax of US$30 million and US$102 million for 2008 and 2007 respectively, could fetch S$1 billion. DBS' bid for ING Asia Private Bank is seen as a long shot as the bank is famously shy of overbidding given its painful memory of having overpaid in 2001 for Hong Kong's Dao Heng Bank.

'As always, we do not comment on our merger and acquisition activities,' said Karen Ngui, DBS spokeswoman. 'DBS' priority is to pursue organic growth opportunities which extend our Asia banking franchise and we believe DBS Private Bank is well-positioned in two of Asia's leading private banking hubs - Singapore and Hong Kong.'

'In any inorganic initiative we pursue, we always adopt a disciplined approach and will only do the deal if it fits our strategic initiatives and return on investment requirements,' said Ms Ngui.

DBS private bank employs 110 private bankers and has assets under management of S$30 billion.

The bank has plans to set up a domestic private banking presence in China, as it sees onshore wealth management growing in importance and new funds flowing in from Asian investors, according to a Reuters report. 'We are looking at setting up an onshore presence there in terms of wealth management,' Kwong Kin Mun, DBS head of private banking for southern Asia, told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit yesterday.

Asia with some of the fastest-growing economies in the world is a big draw for private banks hoping to expand their business.

But private banking clients in Asia are also notoriously fickle and it is not unusual to see some of them park their money at several banks. 'Private banking assets are very mobile because the competition is very keen,' said Tay Chin Seng, analyst at Macquarie Research Equities.

At the summit, HSBC's CEO of global private banking Chris Meares said the bank had looked at ING assets and described the proposed sale by the Dutch bank as a rare opportunity in Asia.

Credit Suisse also told the summit that it is looking to hire experienced private bankers and hopes to increase its Asian private banking business through net new assets growth of 15-20 per cent per annum over the next three years.

The Swiss bank is targeting 35 to 45 billion Swiss francs (S$47.5 to S$61 billion) in new client money between now and end 2012, adding to the 62 billion Swiss francs in Asian assets under management it had at the end of June, Asia Pacific head of private banking Marcel Kreis said. 'This year, we've added over 20 senior bankers and we'll continue to add to our team.'