HSBC reaches referral agreement with UBS for Latin America clients -memo

By Joshua Franklin ZURICH (Reuters) - HSBC has reached an agreement to refer some of its Latin American private banking clients, primarily in Central America and the Andean region, to Switzerland's UBS , according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. "This decision reflects a refocusing of our strategy on those Latin American markets where we have existing scale in our portfolio and where we have identified growth opportunities for our private banking business, in particular Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico," HSBC's Peter Boyles, chief executive of global private banking, said in the memo, the contents of which were confirmed by a bank spokesman. Boyles said the bank expects up to 40 employees will be offered roles at UBS to serve the clients, which will be referred to UBS's Wealth Management Americas division. A spokesman for UBS declined to comment. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields)