Wealth Briefs

MyPrivateBanking Research Brief (July 2011)

Why Private Banking Clients Should Avoid Internet IPOs

It is a common practice that the investment banking division and the wealth management division of large banks collaborate to distribute IPO shares among their wealthy individual clients. MyPrivateBanking sees a substantial risk for investors that the mix of the same major players, mechanisms and promises that were seen in the last tech boom eventually leads to the same, disastrous results.... more

Dictators' Stolen Assets

Billions Without a Trace

The recent events in North Africa and the Middle East show once again that every time a dictator falls from power, governments, politicians and banks across the world announce that his, his family’s and follower’s assets in foreign countries will be frozen and later returned to the new, legitimate government. But the fact of the matter, according to this new report by the research company MyPrivateBanking, is that these announcements have only been paying lip service to the public. ... more

MyPrivateBanking Research Brief (February 2011)

What the Arab Revolution means for Wealth Managers

Every overthrow of a corrupt leadership could become a highly critical situation for a number of private banks and wealth managers who have been personally and financially heavily involved with the Middle Eastern and African political elites around the world. This research brief estimates the amount of assets from the Middel East and Africa legally and illegaly deposited on offshore accounts and analyzes the financial, legal and reputational challenges for banks administering these accounts.... more

MyPrivateBanking Research Brief

Privacy Vulnerable on Private Banking Websites

The majority of Private Banks and Wealth Managers worldwide shows little regard for the protection of personal data on their public websites. MyPrivateBanking Research surveyed 195 websites of providers in the 17 most important banking markets and found that 61% of the banks do not offer secure web messaging. Almost as high, at 59%, is the proportion that do not give privacy warnings to users of their website about sending unprotected e-mails to recipients at the bank. ... more

Special Brief

UBS Settlement: What It Really Means

Yesterday the US and the Swiss government disclosed some (but not all) details of their agreement regarding the case IRS vs. UBS. It required only six pages for the US and the Swiss authorities to determine how the private financial data of thousands of US citizens will be swiftly handed over by the UBS to the Swiss government and thereafter to the waiting hands of the US authorities. ... more

Wealth Brief 1

No Future for Offshore Banking

We are convinced that offshore banking will largely come to an end within the next 10 years due to a triple assault by cash strapped governments around the world. This triple assault is happening right now, lead by the US and major EU countries to end offshore banking as we know it.... more