Barclays Plc (BARC.L) said on Tuesday it has hired six senior bankers in Singapore for its wealth management business, including Soh Chye Guan from HSBC, as it seeks to tap into growing numbers of high net worth individuals in Southeast Asia.

The move comes after the British bank, which managed 151.2 billion pounds ($314 billion) globally under its wealth management arm Barclays Wealth, poached three senior private bankers from UBS (UBSN.VX) earlier this year.

 

Barclays said Soh, a 25 year financial industry veteran, will head its Singapore and Malaysia markets starting July 23. It also hired Errie Maksum from Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) as Market Head of Indonesia who will join on August 23. 

 

The private banking industry suffered a spate of layoffs at the end of 2008 and early 2009 but has recovered in recent months and banks are actively searching for experienced staff to tap the growing numbers of millionaires in the region.