Hong Kong hit as UBS starts to downsize

UBS started downsizing at its Asia private banking division this week as a slump in profits weighs on the region's largest wealth manager, according to people familiar with the matter.

The firm is dismissing about 70 people, including relationship managers, mainly in Hong Kong and Singapore through to the end of March, one of the people said.

Wealth generation in China has stalled as the nation's economy struggles to regain momentum amid a property crisis and a selloff in equities. UBS rivals such as Citigroup have also been cutting wealth jobs in their investment banks in the region.

In other news, China will appoint Zhang Jinliang as the chairman of state-owned China Construction Bank (0939), three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The appointment was reviewed by the China Communist Party's organizational department last week and will be announced as soon as this week, said the sources.

Zhang, 54, has served as CCB's president since March 2022 and previously worked for Bank of China for more than a decade. He graduated from Xiamen University in 1997 with a doctorate in economics.