The deal, which also includes ANZ’s retail and wealth businesses in Singapore, China, Taiwan and Indonesia, was announced in October 2016.
Hong Kong is the third market covered by the deal to complete the transfer of the business portfolio to DBS. The China and Singapore businesses were transferred earlier this summer. The businesses in the remaining two markets are expected to complete the migration by early 2018, the bank said in a statement.
The newly-acquired Hong Kong business adds 17% to the AUM of DBS’s wealth management business, according to Sebastian Paredes, CEO of DBS Bank in Hong Kong.
At the time of the deal’s announcement, ANZ’s CEO Shayne Elliot said that the Australian bank wanted to focus on corporate and institutional clients in Australia and New Zealand, and that further investments in the retail and wealth units in Asia “did not make sense” for the bank. The bank took a $200m loss on the deal.
ANZ is one of several foreign banks in the region that have found it hard to compete in wealth management and sold their business.
In February 2017, NAB announced the sale of its private wealth business to OCBC. Earlier Rothschild exited its business in Hong Kong, and LGT Group bought ABN Amro’s private banking business in the region.
Headquartered in Singapore, DBS has 280 branches in 18 Asian markets. In 2014, the bank bought the private banking activities of Societe Generale in Singapore and Hong Kong.
