'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, The Netherlands, Feb. 17, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- On Tuesday, February 18, 2003, Van Lanschot Asia Ltd., a subsidiary of the private and business bank F. van Lanschot Bankiers in the Netherlands, will open its representative office in Hong Kong. The office will be located in the Bank of China Tower in the city's financial centre. With Hong Kong as its base, Van Lanschot Asia will focus on attracting high net-worth individuals in Asia, Australia and New Zealand for Van Lanschot International Private Banking, which specialises in investment advice, asset management and estate planning.
The Hong Kong representative office will be officially inaugurated at The China Club in Hong Kong. Special guests attending will be Frederick Si-hang Ma, Secretary for Financial Services & The Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and Andre Brouwer and Jochum Haakma, consuls general of the Netherlands in Hong Kong and Shanghai respectively. Carel van der Spek, member of the Board of Managing Directors of Van Lanschot NV and Eric Kampman, Managing Director of Van Lanschot Asia Ltd. will be attending the inauguration on behalf of the Bank.
The contacts which Van Lanschot will acquire in the Asian market from Hong Kong will underpin the Bank's International Private Banking activities. Apart from Hong Kong, Van Lanschot also operates from Switzerland (Geneva and Zurich), Luxembourg, Curacao and Jersey. In European countries such as France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, England and Switzerland, where many Dutch and Belgian high net-worth individuals reside, the Bank also holds presentations for clients and intermediaries, such as accountants and tax advisers.
Experience and Areas of Expertise
"Van Lanschot's services in the field of International Private Banking focus on high net-worth individuals wishing to spread their investments over various countries in the world," explained Carel van de Spek, member of the Board of Managing Directors of Van Lanschot. "We always provide personal and customised services in the areas of investment in securities and special products such as index guarantee contracts, hedge funds and residential mortgage finance in a number of European member states. Especially now that the situation on the stock exchanges is very difficult, people need a private bank with a great deal of experience and attention for their specific personal circumstances."
Tiger Economies
Van Lanschot Asia will start its marketing activities from Hong Kong.
"We will cautiously enter the Asian market step by step and visit interesting clients. Internal research has shown that there is a lot of potential in this region. Approximately 25% of all high net-worth individuals in the world live in Asia, some 1.7 million people. Dutchmen and Belgians have lived and worked in China for centuries, which creates special ties, not least given the history of F. van Lanschot Bankiers which started in 1737 as a trading house for colonial goods that were imported from the Far East," said Eric Kampman, General Manager of Van Lanschot Asia.
Economic growth in Asia over the past twenty years, particularly in the so-called Tiger economies Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, has been impressive. Many people, both local and expatriate, have reaped the fruits of this growth and research has shown that they have a strong need for asset advice, asset management and estate planning.
Spreading Capital
"For this attractive market, too, Van Lanschot applies the successful formula of a limited number of clients per adviser. In this way, people and their financial wishes get all the attention they deserve," added Kampman.
In addition to asset advice and asset management, Van Lanschot International Private Banking also provides specific tax and trust services to the clients of Van Lanschot Asia and advises on how to spread capital over various countries with different legislation.
The Van Lanschot Asia Ltd. office in the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong. General Manager Eric Kampman expects to attract new clients in Asia over the next few years, including in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and in Australia and New Zealand. (Photo not subject to copyright: Lawrence Studio, Hong Kong. The photo can be sent to you by e-mail or is available upon request. Telephone +31 297- 566 883).
Enclosure: Profile of F. van Lanschot Bankiers
Established in 1737 Profile of F. van Lanschot Bankiers
F. van Lanschot Bankiers NV traces its origins back to a trading firm established in 's-Hertogenbosch in 1737 by Cornelis van Lanschot. The bank still maintains its head office in this city, some 80 kilometres south of Amsterdam. With total assets as per December 31, 2001 of Euro 10,7 billion F. van Lanschot Bankiers is the 6th largest Dutch private and business bank. Its domestic network of 33 offices in the Netherlands concentrates on full banking services to selected private, corporate and institutional clients. The Van Lanschot brand name is one of the most highly regarded in the Netherlands, especially in the private banking market. Its competitive edge in this field lies in the high quality and personalised banking services, offered through its well spread branch network. Outside The Netherlands Van Lanschot's operations are centered around (international) private banking. Van Lanschot established banking operations in Luxemburg in 1989 and started in Belgium in the nineties where so far 8 branches have been opened. It further has banking operations in Switzerland (branches in Zurich and Geneva), Curacao and Jersey and a representative office in Hong Kong.
In 1999 a limited part of the shares of Van Lanschot NV, the holding company of F. van Lanschot Bankiers NV, was launched on the Amsterdam stock exchange. The shares of Van Lanschot NV are now held by:
-- Publicly held (Euronext Amsterdam) 28.58% -- Friesland Bank NV 19.96% -- NIB Capital NV 16.30% -- Delta Lloyd Nuts Ohra NV 13.94% -- La Dou du Midi BV 10.85% -- Ducatus NV 9.92% -- Pension Fund Van Lanschot 0.45%
Van Lanschot completed the year of 2001 succesfully with a net profit after tax from ordinary operations of Euro 90.0 million, an increase of 11.5% on the previous year figure. Total assets at December 31, 2001 were Euro 10.7 billion, 10.6% higher than at 2000 year end. Group capital base at same date amounted to Euro 893.9 million and BIS Total Capital Ratio and BIS Tier One Ratio were respectively 12.7% and 8.6%.
Despite continued negative conditions of the world's stock exchanges and a more difficult economic environment in the current year the bank has announced that an 8% increase in earnings per share from ordinary activities was achieved in 2002. The detailed financial results will be published on March 14, 2003.
The bank's ratings, as assigned by Standard & Poor's, are single-A-minus long-term and A-2 short-term; S&P's outlook on Van Lanschot is positive. Fitch rated the bank at A long-term and A-2 short-term.
More information about Van Lanschot: www.vanlanschot.com