By Amanda Lee and Megan Cheah

Singapore's United Overseas Bank plans to expand its private banking business into Hong Kong to capitalize on the rapid wealth accumulation across Greater China and North Asia.

The bank wants to open a private banking booking center in Hong Kong, its first outside Singapore, UOB's head of group retail Susan Hwee said.

UOB is likely to begin setting up this booking center--where a client's wealth account is held and processed for tax and regulatory purposes--by the end of next year or 2028.

China is the world's second-largest wealth market after the U.S., accounting for roughly 12%-13% of global financial wealth of about US$333 trillion in 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group.

UOB's move is aimed at capturing a share of that wealth market, where global private banks such as UBS, HSBC and Citigroup compete with regional lenders including DBS Group and OCBC Bank's private banking arm Bank of Singapore.

Hwee said that there was space for lenders to compete across both Asian financial hubs. She noted Hong Kong's "backyard advantage" for Chinese funds given its proximity to the mainland while Singapore's banking environment was perceived as a safe haven.

UOB is also expanding its overall wealth management and privilege banking businesses to strengthen its position in Singapore's competitive wealth market.

In the private bank division, Hwee said that UOB aims to increase its relationship-manager headcount to 450 over the next five years, from about 280 at end-March. It also plans to grow its privilege banking team by around 50% to nearly 400 people by end-2026.

UOB's private banking clients need at least 5 million Singapore dollars, equivalent to US$3.9 million, in investable assets, while its privilege banking business serves clients with a minimum of S$350,000 in investable assets.

UOB's wealth management income rose 14% to S$1.28 billion in 2025, and the bank aims to lift that to at least S$2.5 billion by 2030.

She added that the bank sees new growth opportunities in Southeast Asia following its S$4.9 billion acquisition of Citigroup's retail banking businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

"We think ASEAN is also for us to win because we can serve them both onshore and offshore," she said.

Write to Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com and Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com