Dresdner set to expand in private banking

European investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein plans to open a private banking operation in Monaco by the end of the year, and to add further resources to its existing private banking centres in Austria, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

And the bank won't stop there.

Wealthbriefing.com reports that Dresdner plans to more than double the number of its private banking centres in Germany to 250 from its current 120 and intends to open three new private banking centres in the UK through its subsidiary Kleinwort Benson Private Bank.

The bank has said it wants to become one of Europe's five leading private banking specialists during the next five years.

Dresdner is not the only bank with its eye on the private banking crown, or even on Monaco, however.

EFG International announced last month that it had acquired Banque Monegasque de Gestion, the Monaco-based private banking unit of Unicredit.

The London-based private banking arm of EFG International, EFG Private Bank, has appointed Paul O'Donnell as head of private banking.

O'Donnell joins the bank from UBS Wealth Management where he was a managing director of sales management for UK, Northern and Eastern European markets.

"We're hoping to take on at least 10 new relationship managers by the end of the year, and we're looking now at some specific acquisitions," John Williamson, chief executive officer of EFG Private Bank told WealthBriefing.com.

"We're also looking more at the UK onshore market as a bigger proportion of our revenue going forward," Williamson said.