Small players gain from cooperation

private banking

Small banks can no longer provide everything to consumers. Those that are not being bought up by bigger players are adopting open architecture but all will need to work with advisers to ensure clients get a rounded service

An intriguing contradiction is evident in the UK private banking sector. Industry commentators reckon that the smaller players in the market are best placed to provide the truly personal service that wealthy private clients crave, yet they are evidently finding the going sufficiently tough to prompt them to seek larger partners. Perhaps the best publicised recent example has been Leopold Joseph, which put itself up for sale towards the end of last year. The chief executive laid the blame on the cost of the regulatory environment, and the effect of weak stock markets and lower interest ra...