Goldman to double private banking business

Goldman Sachs is looking to "dramatically" grow its private banking operations during the next five years, particularly in Europe, Asia and the Middle East (EMEA).

According to the New York Times, the bank has been beefing up its private wealth management operations outside of the US, and plans to more than double its number of private wealth managers in the EMEA region.

Douglas Grip, Goldman's head of international private wealth management says the bank hopes to gain market share from competitors by offering access to innovative financial products.

One such competitor is likely to be BNP Paribas, which Wealthbriefing reports is looking to grow its private banking operation in China and India by two thirds.

Michael Longhini, chief executive for the Asian private banking for BNP Paribas business told Reuters recruitment of staff in these countries will be a major priority, and that the bank hopes to employ a total of 100 people by the end of 2006, up from about current levels of 60.