Missing Chinese investment banker Bao Huang had been preparing to move some of his assets from China and Hong Kong to Singapore in the months before he disappeared, according to four people familiar with his plans. clarified.
billionaire founder and investment bank chairman chinese renaissanceBrokered some of China’s biggest tech deals.
A growing number of Chinese executives are setting up family offices, private companies that manage their investments. Singapore After Beijing launched a regulatory attack on the tech sector and an anti-corruption crackdown. They increasingly see the city-state, dubbed the “Switzerland of Asia,” as a haven for depositing money.
“Like many wealthy Chinese people, he has been trying to diversify his wealth in Singapore since the tech crackdown in China and during the pandemic lockdown,” one of the people said.
Bao is a Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse veteran who co-founded China Renaissance in 2005. Disappeared this month and lost contact, his company said last week. The bank said it was unable to contact its chairman, chief executive and controlling shareholder Bao.
Chinese authorities have made no mention of Bao’s disappearance. China Renaissance executive Kong Lin said last September that China’s securities regulator’s Shanghai branch called him for “supervisory talks” about alleged violations in the group’s securities arm. He was taken into custody shortly after.
Bao’s disappearance Brought chills to China’s international financial and business circles As Beijing seeks to project a more business-friendly image since easing harsh pandemic controls.
Bao has made China Renaissance one of China’s top financial institutions and has often won technology deals from big Wall Street rivals.
However, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced policies that hit the tech sector And wealthy tycoons, including billionaire Jack Ma, had Ant Group’s listing suspended by Beijing in 2020.
the number of Family office set up by a Chinese in Singapore There was a surge of people eager to secure their family’s wealth, and many people from the mainland migrated to the cities during the same period.
An individual does not need to be physically present to set up a family office in Singapore. The high demand for setting up family office funds and applying for tax incentives has resulted in long wait times.
Capital is difficult to pull out of mainland China, but many of the wealthy have assets in places like Hong Kong that are easier to move.
It is unclear whether Bao has successfully set up the fund or if the process is still ongoing. A government portal search did not find Bao listed as a director in his office.
“It’s difficult to know who is setting up these single-family offices,” said one attorney, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
“Many of them use the names of their children or spouses as directors, [Monetary Authority of Singapore] They do not control third party money, so they do not authorize or regulate them. ”
China Renaissance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Singapore government is taking steps to increase the city’s appeal as a wealth management center. In 2019, MAS and the Economic Development Board established a family office development team to attract more family funds.
The number of family offices rose from a handful in 2018 to an estimated 1,500 by the end of last year, according to Singapore data analytics firm Handshakes.
Additional reporting by Joe Leahy in Beijing
