Slaughter and May advised Union Bancaire Privée - Hong Kong acquisition of banking and wealth management business of Coutts & Co. AG from The Royal Bank of Scotland plc

Slaughter and May advised Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA (UBP) on the corporate and regulatory aspects of its acquisition of the Hong Kong banking and wealth management business of Coutts & Co. AG (Coutts) from The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

The acquisition involved an asset purchase of Coutts’ Hong Kong business. In order to take over Coutts’ banking business in Hong Kong, UBP obtained a banking licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and a registered institution licence from the Securities and Futures Commission.

The acquisition was structured to complete at the same time that UBP commenced its Hong Kong business operations.

In addition to Hong Kong, UBP also purchased Coutts’ businesses managed from Switzerland, Monaco, the Middle East and Singapore.

UBP is a Geneva-based private bank founded in 1969. It is one of the largest private banks in Switzerland and commenced its private wealth management business in Hong Kong on 11 April 2016.