One-third of RBS Coutts Singapore staff quit
13 October, 2009 10:05 PM
By Andrew Ee
SEVENTY employees from the Singapore office of RBS Coutts have resigned today – the banking industry’s greatest number of resignations in recent years. This amounts to about one-third of the UK-based private bank’s approximately 250-strong staff in Singapore.
Many of the former employees, including about 20 key managers and around 50 support staff, are said to be joining former RBS Coutts Asia CEO Hanspeter Brunner at Swiss-based Italian competitor BSI.
Brunner resigned last week to head BSI’s Asian operations starting March next year.
Some of the resignations are believed to be related to bonus prospects, although RBS Coutts Singapore said that its compensation packages were “market competitive”.
RBS Coutts said that the resignations represented less than 15 percent of its approximately 510 staff in Asia. It plans to replace employee shortfall and increase Asian headcount to 710 by 2015.
RBS Coutts Asia CEO Nick Pollard said to the Business Times: “I’ve grown businesses before. We have to be patient, we have to bring the right people in.”
HR professionals and experts said that RBS Coutts will face an uphill battle in its recruitment efforts, in wake of the financial crisis.
Janice Lee, 28, human resource manager of a local recruitment agency, said: “We’re playing a balancing game here. On one hand, we need to be mindful of (the company’s) bottom-line. On the other, we need to give the right benefits to attract and retain talent.”
NUS School of Business Assistant Professor David Lehman, said: “The infancy of private banks in Asia is reflected in staff volatility. You’ve got to be careful with how you manage staff – and pay them.”
The departures will see some clients of RBS Coutts Singapore – with whom former employees have built lucrative businesses – changing banks. RBS Coutts Singapore said that clients who choose to stay with the private bank will not be affected.
Some in the finance industry who were interviewed felt that the mass resignations at RBS Coutts Singapore were due to staff-related issues and have nothing to do with prospects in the industry.
Tan Tai Chuan, 30, relationship manager with an international private bank, said: “Private banking hinges a lot on building relations. If managers leave, so will their clients. It’s normal.”
Shawn Woo, 45, branch manager of a local financial advisory firm, said: “This is a sign that Asia will lead global monetary growth. More market activity, more competition.”
RBS Coutts is the international private banking division of RBS, which was rescued by the UK government last year in a bid to avert financial sector collapse following UK’s credit crisis.
