Credit Suisse Group AG may hire hundreds of employees for its private banking business in Japan as it seeks to tap into $14.8 trillion in assets held by the nation's households.
"I'd like to boost our staff to several hundred," Junya Tani, head of Credit Suisse private banking in Japan, said Wednesday, discussing the bank's business plan for the next five years and beyond.
The bank, Switzerland's biggest by market value, started its private banking business in Japan in December. It currently has 40 employees and is targeting individuals with more than ¥1 billion in financial assets, Tani said.
Regulatory changes allowing banks and brokerages to share customer information more easily are spurring overseas and Japanese banks to bolster their wealth management operations here. Credit Suisse follows UBS AG and HSBC Holdings Inc. among European banks in setting up private banking businesses in Japan.
Credit Suisse has attracted "a few" clients in Japan worth more than $1 billion, said Tani, 50, declining to provide further details on assets under management.
Japan relaxed regulations last month, allowing banks and brokerages to share customer information and enabling employees within the same group to serve in dual roles at banking and brokerage units. The rule changes will allow Credit Suisse to sell banking and brokerage investment products to its affluent clients, according to Tani.