BENDURA BANK AG strengthens foothold in Asia via Hong Kong

BENDURA BANK AG was founded in Liechtenstein in 1998. It offers bespoke financial services to affluent families and individuals and is one of the principality’s largest banks, with more than US$3.5 billion of assets under management. Looking to expand its global footprint, BENDURA BANK AG opened a representative office in Hong Kong in 2018 to cater to the needs of the Asia market. 

Bridging the East and West

According to Philipp Forster, Chief Customer Officer and Management Board Member of BENDURA BANK AG, Hong Kong offers an ideal location for financial services companies to operate and grow. “Hong Kong as an international financial centre has a robust financial regulatory regime complemented with a well-educated workforce. Therefore, we would like to leverage the unique advantages Hong Kong has offered to expand our footprint in the Asia market,” Forster said.

Apart from general marketing activities to promote the bank, the Hong Kong representative office acts as an effective bridge between Asia and BENDURA BANK AG’s headquarters in Europe. “The bank’s Hong Kong representative office offers Asian families and their professional advisors direct access to our bank in Liechtenstein, where our clients’ assets are booked and administered in a safe and stable jurisdiction (AAA country rating by Standard & Poor’s),” Forster said. “Through marketing and the nurturing of a local network, the office has been successfully contributing to the development of new business relationships.”

A City for Business

According to Forster, Hong Kong also offers many other business advantages. He said, “The modern and sophisticated infrastructure and sound legal and administrative frameworks are important as it provides a strong support and backbone for us to set up and comfortably conduct business activities here.” Also beneficial to business development, he added, is the highly educated, multilingual and competitive talent pool.

In addition, the Hong Kong government spares no effort to create a business-friendly environment, whether it is through support from InvestHK or with policy initiatives, which Forster believes will help attract more enterprises, investment and talent. “Such initiatives not only benefit BENDURA BANK AG but also other businesses as well as the overall development in the city,” he added.

Forster views that another edge that Hong Kong possesses is its integration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). “The GBA market has a growing high-net-worth-individual population with investment demands, which offers huge potential opportunities for us. With our historical expertise in private banking, we are ready to contribute to the development of the GBA market and its population,” he said.

With Hong Kong’s many strategic advantages as a business location, BENDURA BANK AG plans to expand its local presence even further, including by growing its staff members as well as considerations to apply for licenses from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong and engaging in mergers and acquisitions activities.

“BENDURA BANK AG is fully committed to growing its business exposure in Asia, and Hong Kong will play a vital role in achieving this,” Forster concluded.

© Copyright Invest Hong Kong, July 2023. All rights reserved.

Philipp FORSTER, MSc, CFA

CCO

Sprachen: German,English

Since 2015 working for BENDURA BANK AG. Initially in Trading & Treasury and from 2016 as Head of Payment Transactions. From 2018 he built up and managed the Hong Kong Representative Office until he was appointed Member of the Executive Board in October 2022. Prior to that, Mr. Forster worked in private banking in Austria for several years. As Chief Customer Officer (CCO) of BENDURA BANK AG, he is responsible for leading and developing a significant part of the customer service offering. Philipp Forster holds a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Economics from the FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and Project Management Professional (PMP) Credential Holder.