The statement contained in this article is misleading that BoS is the first foreign private bank to start an arrangement with an Indian wealth management firm.
I was responsible for the start up of Axis Private Bank in DIFC, Dubai in the very first relationship that an Indian financial institution ever had with a foreign private bank (Banque Privee Edmund de Rothschild from Luxembourg, bank established in 1923).
We had operations in India, Singapore, HK and Dubai under that partnership from 2008.
Aside from the misleading statement, we give this newly formed partnership no longer than 5 years before they wind up.
Not just because Axis Bank relationship with Rothschild Private bank fell apart eventually within 4 years due to complicated Indian regulations and also because Indian Central Bank laws do not permit overseas investments for Indian residents just like in almost every emerging market except for specific purposes.
Bank of Singapore, Edelweiss Partner to Target Indian Wealth
If BoS is just going to manage domestic investments and domestic assets for domestic clients in India, then they will not be the first ones to fail.
There is a long list of failures of foreign banks like ABN AMRO, RBS, Barclays, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ING, Commonwealth Bank etc in India.
There is also a long list of failures of mutual funds who tried to enter India and failed like JP Morgan, Deutsche, Pinebridge, Nomura, Fidelity, Daiwa and Goldman Sachs etc.
Wall Street gives up on India mutual funds as JPMorgan joins exodus
Foreign mutual funds exit: Now Goldman Sachs & Nomura to quit India
Morgan Stanley to exit India banking on stricter rules, new regulations
HSBC joins global peers in shutting down its Indian private banking unit
Imagine, what used to be the second largest bank of India, now it's third largest, is No. 1 in doing customer fraud in India.
India's ICICI bank is a leader in fraud by their employees.
They are actually ranked No 1 in India amongst all the banks for doing maximum number of employee led frauds including by their CEO who was terminated for cause just last month.
ICICI Bank tops list of most employees caught in fraud
Many senior Indian bankers have been charged some of them are CEO's and all are senior most executives spread across many large banks of India. Here is just one sample.
PNB fraud: CBI names 2 EDs, ex-CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian in charge sheet
In this climate, how can BoS or anybody try to do business when any customer can be defrauded any second and stability does not exist in most sectors?
On another subject, China creates more than 11 million new jobs per annum whereas in India the economy LOST 11 million jobs in 2018, instead of net jobs being created.
This is according to Govt data which has probably been massaged very well.
It is important to note this because these shocking job losses are mostly in private sector businesses that are owned by multi millionaire business owners who are incurring unsustainable losses over the last several years.
11 million jobs lost in 2018
Furthermore, laws of India have not changed but actually matters have become worse in the past decade from retrospective taxation on companies to mass unemployment to new GST regulations to rising crime in public and frauds at the top most levels of almost all Indian banks besides dozens of multi millionaires running away and thousands of super rich leaving India just in the past 5 years.
23,000 dollar-millionaires have left India since 2014
As India becomes wealthier, more Indians leave its shores
What makes BoS think that they will survive when several large and experienced banks who had entered India before them in the past 20-25 years (when India actually grew massively post the 1991 liberalization, bankruptcy crisis) have failed and gone back with their tails tucked between their legs?
Not only some of the biggest billionaires have run away from India in the last few years for the very first time because they went bankrupt and are now being forcibly brought back to face the Indian justice system but hundreds of large firms have gone bankrupt or sold to foreigners (like Essar Oil).
More than 1,000 large to medium size bankrupt firms are currently in the Indian bankruptcy system called the NCLT plus 4,000 bankruptcy cases were dismissed which means that they are bankrupt but just not admitted in the process for multiple reasons.
‘We are on track to ensure time-bound resolution ’
And all these are potential customers as well as existing customers of various banks.
2018: When India Inc poster boys turned rogue
This article shows how 5 billionaires involved in the greatest passion of all Indians, cricket, have gone bankrupt in the last few years.
The curse of IPL - only 3 of original 8 intact
Guess the Chinese owners do not understand that despite losing Chinese money twice with only the 2 Indian billionaires whom the top Chinese banks had supported in the past who both are now going bankrupt being Anil Ambani and Subroto Roy, and now once again the Chinese want to try to dance with India?
From glory to dust: An Ambani brand's journey to bankruptcy
Supreme Court summons Sahara chief Subrata Roy for not clearing investors’ dues
Perhaps this is a Singapore offshoot bank subsidiary and they are operating for their own selfish and mindless reasons.
China has never helped or bailed out any Indian or invested in India ever since those 2 Indian billionaires went bankrupt and rightly so.
While China supports almost every single nation in the world whenever and wherever there is a crisis.
Didn't BoS do any due diligence? (Perhaps read this blog?).
Or have the so called "consultants" not shown the reality of India to BoS because they all need to get paid their millions of dollars in fees?
Imagine, these are the BoS Private Bankers who will advise their newly acquired clients when they themselves don't know how to manage their own bank's money!
The only suggestion, at this point, we can give to BoS is to focus on making a million dollars from India.
And the following is the "million dollar" advice on how to do so:
Invest 1 billion dollars in India and get ready to leave with 1 million dollars within 5 years! :)
If anyone needs formal advice (as we provide consulting services to some of the top most consulting firms in the world already on an as required basis), we are here to help, you may drop us a message on the email provided on the top right of this blog.
For now, however, we wish both BoS and Edelweiss Group all the best.
Congratulations and Welcome to India!
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