A 15-Point Checklist Before Choosing a Private Bank: Thresholds, Booking Centre, Fees, Credit and Exit

Before choosing a private bank, there are 15 things most worth checking: the institution's status, where your assets are booked, which investor category you will be placed in, how much you will pay, what hard conditions apply when you borrow, and how you will leave in future. Use this checklist before signing the account-opening documents. Each point can be turned into a written question for the bank, helping you confirm that you have understood the most important clauses in the documents; unfamiliar terms are explained in the Glossary.

Group 1: Institution and booking (points 1 to 3)

1. The institution's regulatory status

• Check: the full name and place of incorporation of the legal entity you are contracting with, and its status on the regulatory register.
• Hong Kong: in the HKMA Register of Authorized Institutions (vpr.hkma.gov.hk), check whether the bank is a licensed bank, a restricted licence bank or a deposit-taking company, and check its registered institution status in the SFC Public Register.
• Singapore: in the MAS Financial Institutions Directory, check the licences and exemption categories the entity holds.
• Note: the brand name and the contracting entity may differ; for example, with a foreign bank operating as a branch, the contracting party is the head office legal entity.

2. Booking centre and applicable rules

• Check: in which booking centre your account and assets are booked, and which jurisdiction's law, regulation and dispute resolution mechanism apply.
• How it works: the location of your relationship manager and the booking centre can differ, and some services are available only to accounts in particular booking centres.
• See: Booking centre: Hong Kong or Singapore.

3. Whether deposit protection applies

• Check: what type your deposits are, whether they are protected and up to what limit.
• Hong Kong: according to the Deposit Protection Board's FAQ, only licensed banks are Scheme members; restricted licence banks and deposit-taking companies are not included. For the limit, see Booking centre.
• Singapore: only Singapore dollar deposits are covered; the foreign currency deposits, structured deposits and investment products common in private banking are not (SDIC FAQ).
• Note: securities and funds held in custody are not deposits and are not covered by deposit protection; how they are treated depends on the custody agreement and applicable law.

Group 2: Status and classification (points 4 to 6)

4. Which investor category you will be placed in

• Check: whether the bank intends to classify you as a Hong Kong professional investor (PI), a sophisticated professional investor (SPI) or a Singapore Accredited Investor (AI), and on the basis of which proof of assets.
• Hong Kong: individual PI status is determined by portfolio size (section 3 of the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) Rules), while SPI status involves a higher financial test plus a knowledge and experience test; ask the bank to state in writing the statements and dates on which the classification is based.
• Singapore: an Accredited Investor must meet one of the asset or income conditions in section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act and must expressly opt in. For the figures, see Private bank thresholds and services.

5. Which protections this classification makes you give up

• Check: ask the bank to list in writing the requirements that are waived or simplified because of your classification.
• Hong Kong SPI: the joint HKMA–SFC circular of 28 July 2023 states that, under the streamlined approach, intermediaries do not need to match an SPI's risk tolerance, investment objectives and investment horizon at the level of each transaction, nor assess the SPI's knowledge, experience and concentration risk; product features and risks may be explained once in advance; and the intermediary must enter into a written agreement with the client.
• Singapore AI: according to Bank of Singapore's published explanation of the effect (Version 10/23), the exemptions include product information and remuneration disclosure under section 34 of the Financial Advisers Act, the requirement under section 36 to have a reasonable basis for recommendations, written consent before client assets are pledged, and complaint-handling arrangements for retail clients, among others.
• Note: a Singapore Accredited Investor may opt out, and transactions completed before opting out are not affected.

6. KYC and source of wealth documents

• Check: the list of source of wealth (SoW) and source of funds (SoF) evidence the bank requires, and how long the review is expected to take.
• How it works: source of wealth means the origin of your entire wealth, while source of funds means the origin of the money being deposited into the account this time; HKMA training material from 2016 states that due diligence expectations are higher for private banking, but precise figures are not required.
• Mainland residents: the HKMA circular of 22 May 2026 requires registered institutions carrying on securities business, when opening investment accounts for Mainland individual investors, to obtain a written source-of-funds declaration and to settle only through qualifying bank accounts in the client's own name; see Private bank onboarding and KYC.

Group 3: Fees and benefits (points 7 to 9)

7. Whether the fee schedule is complete

• Check: whether custody fees, management fees, brokerage commissions, FX spreads, minimum charges, and asset transfer-out and account closure fees are all listed, and what the charging basis is.
• Note: rates vary by bank, asset size and agreement, and this site does not quote rates; ask the bank for a written estimate of the total annual cost based on your expected asset allocation. See Private bank fees and conflicts of interest.

8. How benefits from product providers are disclosed

• Check: who keeps fund retrocessions and structured product distribution benefits, whether they are rebated or offset, and what the maximum percentage is for each product.
• Hong Kong: paragraph 8.3 of the SFC Code of Conduct requires disclosure before or at the point of sale; for monetary benefits that cannot be quantified, their existence, nature and maximum percentage receivable must be disclosed.
• Singapore: for Accredited Investors, statutory remuneration disclosure can be waived, so the scope of disclosure depends on the contract and the bank's policies.

9. The bank's capacity in trades

• Check: in bond, FX and OTC derivative trades, whether the bank acts as agent or principal, and how the ceiling on the spread is communicated.
• Hong Kong: the SFC–HKMA circular of 29 October 2021 states that, when acting as agent, an intermediary should not retain the benefit of price improvement, and that merely providing a standard fee schedule given earlier is not sufficient.
• Singapore: the statutory requirement to disclose principal or agent capacity before a trade can be waived for Accredited Investors (same source as point 5).

Group 4: Credit (points 10 to 12)

10. Loan-to-value ratios and adjustment clauses

• Check: where the loan-to-value ratio for each type of collateral is set out, whether the bank can change it unilaterally, and whether you will be notified before a change.
• Hong Kong: the HKMA letter of 22 October 2021 no longer requires share loan-to-value ratios to follow market practice, but requires banks to set them prudently, and states that this does not represent a relaxation of supervisory standards.
• Note: loan-to-value figures should be taken only from the facility letter and the list of eligible collateral; this site does not provide them.

11. Margin call deadlines and the right to dispose of collateral

• Check: the ratio that triggers a margin call, the deadline and acceptable ways to meet it, and the conditions under which the bank can dispose of collateral.
• Note: some contracts allow the bank to dispose of collateral whether or not a margin call has been issued, and the deadline for meeting a call may be only a few business days; for an example of one bank's terms, see How Lombard lending works.

12. The effect of assignment in premium financing

• Check: once the policy is assigned, how cancellation during the cooling-off period, partial withdrawals, beneficiary nominations and the order in which the death benefit is paid out each change.
• Hong Kong: the supervisory standards on premium financing have applied since 1 January 2023, and an IFS-PF must be signed before the policy is issued.
• Singapore: a revocable beneficiary nomination is revoked when the policy is assigned (LIA guide, March 2026); see Premium financing at private banks.

Group 5: Tax and reporting (points 13 to 14)

13. CRS self-certification and where you are reported

• Check: whether the tax residence stated on the self-certification form is accurate, and whether all your tax residences are listed.
• Rules: Hong Kong has implemented automatic exchange of information since 30 June 2016, covering depository accounts, custodial accounts and cash value insurance contracts (IRD); Singapore has exchanged CRS information since September 2018 (IRAS). Account information is reported under the rules to the account holder's jurisdiction of tax residence.

14. Your own filing obligations where you live

• Check: whether interest, dividends and gains on asset transfers in the account must be reported in your jurisdiction of tax residence, by whom and when.
• Mainland China: Announcement No. 3 of 2020 of the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration provides that resident individuals who receive overseas income must file and pay tax between 1 March and 30 June of the following year.
• Note: an individual's tax outcome depends on tax residence and specific circumstances (applies to Hong Kong / Singapore / Mainland China); obtain professional advice in the relevant jurisdiction.

Group 6: Exit (point 15)

15. Account closure and asset transfer process

• Check: how much notice is required to close the account, which assets can be transferred in kind (in-kind transfer) to another bank, and which can only be sold for cash.
• How it works: listed equities and bonds can generally be transferred to another custodian, while some funds must be redeemed first; structured products and OTC derivatives can usually only be held to maturity or terminated early at the issuer's quoted price; outstanding loans must be repaid before collateral is released.
• Note: transfers and account closure may incur fees (see point 7); if a policy has been assigned to the bank, the assignment must be released first. It is easier to clarify exit conditions when signing than to negotiate them afterwards.

How to use the checklist, and next steps

For each point, record the bank's written answer and the page number of the relevant clause – verbal statements do not count. If the answer is "the contract prevails", ask the bank to identify which clause of which contract. When comparing Hong Kong and Singapore side by side, fill in one copy for each, and do not convert thresholds or fee rates between the two to see which is larger. After completing all 15 points, you should have three things in hand: a table matching written answers to clause page numbers, an estimate of total annual cost based on your own asset allocation, and stress scenarios for credit and premium financing (how much money you would need if interest rates rose, collateral values fell or the bank withdrew the facility).

A more comprehensive cross-sector due diligence checklist is available on the sister site hnwsolution.com.sg. If you need this interpreted for your own circumstances, you can register your enquiry through the contact details on this site.