RBC Wealth Management has decided to close down its office in Santiago de Chile after six years in the country “as part of a strategic review of our business in Latin America.” As RBC Wealth Management confirmed to Funds Society, the closure will take place later this year.
Similarly, RBC Wealth Management pointed out during a brief statement that “more than 95% of our Latin American customers are now served through our highly experienced offices in the Caribbean, Europe and North America. We will continue to grow through this successful business model.” Richard Diego is at the helm of RBC Wealth Management business for Latin America.
The Chilean newspaper “Pulso” was the first to report the news, informing that RBC WM clients in Chile have already begun to be notified of the office closure via email.
RBC Wealth Management arrived in Santiago in early April 2008, setting up office in Nueva Las Condes, the financial heart of the Chilean capital. At that time, RBC’s objective for Chile was to provide financial advisory services with a global vision for high net worth individuals (HNWIs), which as the firm explained at the time, was an activity which supplemented “the strong presence in Latin America through the continued expansion of the company in the region.”A week earlier, RBC WM also opened offices in Mexico.
This is not the first time the Wealth Management division of the Canadian bank steps down in Latin America. In August 2013, the company announced the closure of its offices in Uruguay, also appealing to reasons of business strategy in the region. As is happening in Chile now, Uruguayan customers were also offered to move their funds to the bank’s other offices in Europe or North America.
Two months prior to RBC notifying its departure from Uruguay, its premises were raided by Argentine Judge Norberto Oyarbide, amid an enquiry into alleged tax crimes for a “Mega Cause” investigation into asset laundering maneuvers through million dollar transfers of dozens of football players. At the time, however, RBC denied that this fact was related to the closure of its business in the country.
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