United Overseas Bank, the Singapore-based lender, has opened a privilege banking centre at the Marina Bay Financial Centre to cater to high net worth clients.

The new centre features its flagship privilege reserve suites to accommodate offshore clients travelling with their families. There are five private rooms, the largest of which is 550 square feet, and each suite will have a private space where clients can conduct meeting and transactions while their families wait next door. Of the Privilege Reserve client base in Singapore, 20 per cent are offshore clients. The bank expects the proportion of its offshore clients to increase by up to 50 per cent in the next three years.

"UOB has enhanced it wealth management services to capture the rise in the number of HNW individuals in the Asia Pacific region. We will increase the number of our privilege banking centres in the reion and also double the offshore sales team to 150 relationship managers by 2014," said James Phoen, the head of sales and distribution. 

The number of UOB's privilege reserve clients with at least S$2 million ($1.6 million) in assets has grown by 28 per cent since the service launched in May 2011.