SINGAPORE (Dec 19): Bank of Singapore, the private banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, is planning to set up a private bank in London.

BoS CEO Bahren Shaari told The Financial Times that the move was motivated by the sharp decline in the pound after the UK voted to leave the European Union.

“London has always been expensive as a place to do business. Now it has become 20% cheaper,” Shaari said. He also added that the London branch would allow the private bank to be closer to its Middle Eastern clients, but stopped short of giving a definitive timeline on its opening.

In fact, BoS’ plans run counter to the other banks and financial services companies opting to exit Asia, because of a lack of scale. ABN AMRO is selling its Asian and Middle Eastern private banking business, while Barclays sold its wealth management business in Singapore and Hong Kong to BoS.

The key lies in the bank’s cost management strategy. Shaari believes BoS can operate at a cost to income ratio of 65%, compared with the 70% and 80% of larger banks, by having a strong local presence which helps to reduce the complexity of the business.

BoS is already opening a branch in Dubai’s International Financial Centre in early 2017, and the London branch is slated to happen after that. The group is also said to be mulling an onshore private bank in China, Bos’ first priority, followed by the Middle East.