Private Bank Clariden Leu has announced it is to focus on four key countries in a bid to expand its Asian operation.

Incoming head Asia at Clariden Leu Jimmy Lee Kong Eng is to look to expand in Greater China, Indonesia, Singapore and India (including NRI).

Lee Kong Eng joins from Deutsche and takes over from Stefan Hausherr, head operations Asia and former head Asia on an interim basis. Hausherr will remain in his function as head operations Asia and branch manager Singapore.

Lee Kong Eng refused to put a timescale on the expansion plans but confirmed the bank would be looking to acquire a number of senior relationship managers to deliver the growth.

The bank said it is expecting to see a further round of consolidation in the next few months as a number of smaller private banks found increasing costs in areas such as IT prohibitive, and larger operations with new private banking arms looked to dispose of non-core businesses.

As at the end of 2008 Clariden Leu had CHF 94bn in assets under management.

Erich Pfister, head of the Middle East & Asia division, at Clariden Leu, said: "With Jimmy Lee Kong Eng and Stefan Hausherr we are able to combine in-depth knowledge of the Asian market and Swiss private banking know-how. As a leading private bank with Swiss roots and an international orientation, we are very well positioned to continue our growth in Asia. Asia is one of the fastest growing markets in private banking and we are keen to expand our footprint in the Asia-Pacific region."