Singapore, Hong Kong on track to match Swiss offshore cash

Singapore and Hong Kong together will hold as much overseas wealth as Switzerland in four years, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

It underscores the boom in private wealth in the Asia Pacific region as well as the impact on Switzerland from the clampdown on tax evasion after the financial crisis.

Banks in Switzerland stored $2.4 trillion (CHF2.33 trillion) in offshore riches in 2016, the highest in the world, BCG wrote in its annual global wealth report published on Tuesday. BCG expects this number to rise to $2.8 trillion by 2021.

However, Singapore and Hong Kong together are on track to match Switzerland’s expected 2021 total thanks to their proximity to Asia Pacific’s swelling population of millionaires and billionaires, BCG said.

In 2016, Singapore had $1.2 trillion and Hong Kong $800 billion in offshore wealth.

“Switzerland remained the largest offshore centre with a 24% share,” BCG wrote in its report. “But that share is projected to decline through 2021.”

Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse have made major pushes to expand in Asia Pacific and are the region’s biggest and fourth-biggest private banks respectively, according to Asian Private Banker.