Denmark's Saxo Bank announces Hong Kong market exit
Adds content from Saxo Bank letter to clients in paragraphs 4-6; background throughout
By Kane Wu
HONG KONG, Sept 30 (Reuters) -Denmark's Saxo Bank said on Monday it will be closing its Hong Kong office, 13 years after it first entered the market.
"Due to the rapidly changing business landscape in the region, Saxo has made the difficult but necessary decision to close its Hong Kong office," the bank said in a statement on its website.
Saxo said it had stopped taking new clients in Hong Kong as of Monday and has contacted all existing clients and partners about the closure.
Saxo Bank told clients in a separate letter seen by Reuters that the Hong Kong exit was the result of a review of its global strategies.
A Singapore-based spokesperson for Saxo confirmed the content of the client letter.
Saxo Bank said in the letter it has decided to discontinue operations in Hong Kong "after careful considerations".
In what it calls a phased wind-down, clients will only be able to place trades to close existing positions, not opening new ones, starting from Nov 1, Saxo Bank said in the letter.
In the meantime, Saxo Bank asked its clients to transfer their positions to a new broker, withdraw their funds and download related reports.
A Saxo Bank spokesperson didn't immedicately respond to a Reuters query for comment on the client letter.
Saxo Bank's owners, including a unit under Chinese carmaker Geely, announced in July it has appointed Goldman Sachs to conduct a review of its global strategies.
The bank was exploring a sale of itself, Reuters reported in April, 18 months after talks to merge with a blank-cheque company fell apart.
Geely owns close to 50% of the group, with the bank's CEO Kim Fournais holding 28% and Finnish insurer Sampo SAMPO.HE almost 20%, according to Saxo Bank's website.
Reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Kim Coghill and Rashmi Aich
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