Wealth managers head to Singapore as China concerns dim Hong Kong's lure

FILE PHOTO: Passers-by hold their mobile phones as people take a selfie photo using a smartphone, with Singapore's central business district skyline, in Singapore, May 10, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lam

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Some foreign wealth managers are scrapping plans to open offices in Hong Kong in favour of Singapore, as the rich begin to move funds from the Chinese territory where a new extradition bill has stoked public unrest, people familiar with the matter said.

A mid-sized European private wealth advisory firm has abandoned a plan to set up its Asia arm in Hong Kong and will instead aim to launch it in Singapore, its London-based chief executive told Reuters.