Schroders buys CBA's Singapore private bank unit

SINGAPORE, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Fund manager Schroders (SDR.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it will buy the Singapore-based private banking unit of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for $10 million, expanding its services to wealthy clients in Asia.

The private client advisory unit of the Australian bank managed $600 million in assets and had a staff of 12 people, Schroders said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We have a strong asset management presence in Asia and we now look forward to building a private banking business in the region," said Philip Mallinckrodt, group of head of Schroders Private Banking.

Khing Go, currently head of private banking unit of Commonwealth Bank, will become head of private clients Asia for Schroders.

The transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2008.

Schroders Private Banking managed 9.3 billion pounds ($19 billion) in assets at the end of June.

Schroders is a global asset management company with $276 billion in assets globally.

In recent years many big European and U.S. banks such as UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) have set up large private banking offices in Singapore to manage money for local and foreign clients.