Today’s need-to-know storiesHong Kong overtakes Switzerland as top offshore wealth hub

Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub, driven by a surge of mainland Chinese capital and a recovery in the city’s equity markets, according to Boston Consulting Group.

BCG estimates that wealth managers in Hong Kong held $2.9tn in cross-border assets in 2025, around 60 per cent of it sourced from mainland China.

Meanwhile, offshore assets booked in the territory rose 10.7 per cent over the year, the consultancy wrote in its 2026 Global Wealth Report.

BCG expects Hong Kong to pull further ahead of Switzerland, with the gap forecast to reach almost $600bn by the end of the decade.

“We are seeing wealth creation, cross-border capital flows and investment ecosystems increasingly concentrate into a smaller number of globally connected hubs,” said Michael Kahlich, a partner at BCG.

“Hong Kong’s rise reflects the growing gravitational pull of Asian wealth and capital markets.”

SocGen investors to vote on 45% pay rise for CEO Krupa

Société Générale shareholders are due to vote today on a proposed 45 per cent increase in chief executive Slawomir Krupa’s fixed pay.

The proposal, which will be decided at the French lender’s annual meeting in Paris, would lift Krupa’s fixed compensation from €1.65mn to €2.4mn and put him in line for a maximum remuneration package of €7.2mn.

SocGen’s board has cited the bank’s performance in support of the pay rise. Its shares rose more than 150 per cent in 2025, the largest gain in the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index, and are up around 3 per cent so far this year.

Krupa, who launched a restructuring plan in September 2023, has overseen job cuts and the sale of SocGen’s non-core businesses in an effort to strengthen the lender’s capital position.

SocGen’s board said the pay proposal was intended to “ensure long-term stability in the group’s leadership within a highly competitive market where top executives are scarce”.

HDFC Bank shares fall after improper payment allegations

HDFC Bank shares fell in Mumbai on Wednesday after The Indian Express claimed that India’s largest private sector lender had paid additional interest to a state-owned company through marketing expenses.

The stock dropped 2.3 per cent in early trading, extending its decline so far this year to 23 per cent.

The newspaper said an internal investigation at HDFC Bank found that around Rs450mn ($4.7mn) had been paid to Maharashtra State Road Development Corp under expenses classified as “differential interest”.

It also said the bank’s marketing department contributed Rs397mn to the agency’s Road Safety Awareness Campaign during the 2024 and 2025 financial years. HDFC Bank has yet to comment on the matter.

The allegations add to investor concerns as chief executive Sashidhar Jagdishan seeks another term before his three-year tenure ends in October. 

HDFC Bank has been under pressure since Atanu Chakraborty, its part-time chair, resigned in March, citing “certain happenings and practices” that were not aligned with his “personal values and ethics”.

AI’s impact on banking jobs hinges on revenue growth, says UBS head

UBS’s Asia-Pacific president Iqbal Khan has said AI’s impact on banking jobs will depend on whether lenders can use the technology to increase revenues and expand client relationships.

“If we can use that capacity to serve our clients better, gain more share of the wallet, grow faster, grow more, then the impact on costs and jobs is going to be less,” Khan said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

“Now if we cannot, and this is an industry-wide topic, then of course it will have ramifications and implications on costs and jobs.”

“This is the biggest transformation we’re going to see and it’s more about upskilling our people and us learning,” he added.