Former BNP Paribas Wealth Management executive Gaurav Bathija has been hired by Franklin Templeton for its newly created role as head of private banks and family offices for Asia.
Bathija will be based in Singapore, whose booming family office market is facing new regulatory scrutiny. Singapore’s government has begun requesting new tax documents from family offices after multiple family offices with tax exemptions were implicated in Singapore's $2.2 billion money-laundering scandal last year, Bloomberg reported.
Bathija will report to Christian Bucaro, head of wealth for Asia at Franklin Templeton. He had been managing director at BNP Paribas in Singapore since 2022 and held previous roles at J.P. Morgan Private Bank and Citi Private Bank.