A top France-based private bank is entering the Shanghai market, aiming to strike gold by serving an elite clientele, today's Jiefang Daily reported.
The Compagnie Financere Banque Edmondde Rothschild established its Shanghai Representative Office yesterday, becoming the first family-run private bank to be licensed by the country's banking authority, the China Banking Regulatory Commission.
The bank offers advisory services on investments, mergers and acquisitions and wealth management, as well as an agency service for customers to bid at auctions.
In light of this, the bank does not pose a threat to existing banks, which mainly serve the general public, market analysts pointed out.
The French bank targets the social elite, who, in its home market, have a minimum net worth of US$1 million, according to a senior official quoted in the Jiefang Daily report.
Instead of building up its own network, Edmondde Rothschild will operate by cooperating with other banks and subcontracting private services to their upscale customers.
Yesterday, it joined with Bank of China to unveil a gold price-linked product for foreign currencies.
With a history going back 260 years, the family-run bank manages assets exceeding US$80 billion.