VP Bank's head of private banking in Asia is leaving, finews.com has learned. The banker's departure could put the brakes on the Liechtenstein-based bank's ambitious hiring plans in the region.

Andrew Tjia, head of private banking in Asia for bank VP Bank, is leaving the Vaduz, Liechtenstein-based firm in January, a spokesman confirmed. The Indonesian-born Tjia's tenure at the bank is just shy of four years; he leads a team of roughly one dozen bankers. His replacement isn't yet known, the bank said.

His departure is a blow for VP, which has just 40 overall employees in the region. Under Tjia, the bank had planned to hire another 25 private bankers every year through 2019, including in Singapore. 

$5 Million and Up Focus

VP's strategy in the region is to focus on the top layer of the wealthy, or those with more than $5 million to bank. The bank has offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, and limited itself to fishing for clients from China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

In January, the bank hired French private banker Bruno Morel from CIC to run its Singapore office. Tjia, whose departure was first reported by «Asian Private Banker», had previously worked for ANZ, Merrill Lynch and HSBC before joining VP Bank in 2014.