BSI’s Heer to focus on hires after receiving HKMA licence

BSI’s deputy CEO for Asia, Esther Heer, is poised to step up hiring after the boutique private bank was granted a branch licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority this week. The Swiss firm, which in 1998 became part of Italian insurer Generali, submitted its application in the second week of January – meaning the process took just shy of 11 months to be approved. It brings the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong to 152. The last private bank to gain an HKMA operating permit …