JPMorgan is preparing to launch a private banking unit in Japan in the coming months. Officials at the firm said Martyn Goossen, managing director at JPMorgan in Singapore, has relocated to Tokyo to spearhead the effort. The unit is currently ironing out compliance matters and should be up and running by the spring. Goossen was traveling and could not be reached.
The move follows in the wake of Citigroup closing its private banking arm in Japan in a high-profile scandal late 2004. "Firms have been taking advantage of Citigroup's absence," said a private bank official. New entrants and rivals, including UBS, SG Private Banking, and Merrill Lynch, have been taking on former clients of Citi and gaining market share, said insiders.
Given the extremely low yield for yen deposits, structured instruments referenced to Australian or Canadian dollars, for instance, have proved popular for high-net-worth customers in the country.