Barclays is back in Singapore private banking, almost 10 years after selling its local and Hong Kong wealth businesses to Bank of Singapore.

The UK bank’s new Singapore booking centre is the clearest sign yet that it is serious about rebuilding its Asian wealth business. And there is already more to the comeback than a new booking licence.

Barclays has spent this year adding people and capabilities across Singapore and India, including strengthening its investment management and discretionary portfolio management teams, hiring an NRI head and appointing a permanent head for its India private bank.

It has also been building coverage across the India, Singapore, UK and Middle East wealth corridors, areas where clients and their assets are increasingly mobile.

The timing is interesting.

When Barclays sold its Asian wealth business in 2016 for US$227.5 million, around US$13 billion in AUM went with it. Fast forward nearly a decade, and the bank is now investing to rebuild a presence in a Singapore wealth market that has become even more competitive.

So what can Barclays do differently this time?

For one, it is leaning on its international network. The Singapore booking centre will connect clients to booking centres in the UK, Switzerland and India, while its one bank model gives private banking clients access to Barclays’ corporate and investment banking capabilities, much like other universal banks.

The bank is also putting more weight behind investment management. Building a Singapore-based investment hub, including its DPM capabilities, suggests it wants to offer more than relationship coverage and cross-border banking.

Then there is technology.

Barclays’ Asia COO sees AI as a major opportunity to improve some of the less glamorous parts of private banking, from KYC and source-of-wealth checks to client servicing. The aim is not to replace people, but to reduce manual work and make onboarding and other processes faster and more efficient.

That is particularly relevant as Singapore pushes the industry towards a four-week onboarding target.

But Barclays’ return has not been entirely straightforward.

The departure of its Singapore private banking head this year, following the earlier exit of its Asia private banking chief, means the bank is rebuilding parts of its leadership structure at the same time as it is rebuilding the business.

It now has an interim head of Barclays Private Bank Singapore. Can the bank maintain momentum in the business while it works through its leadership transition?

That leaves Barclays with a fairly simple test. Can all these investments translate into meaningful growth?

The ingredients are there – a new booking centre, more bankers, a growing investment platform, an established India business and access to a global banking network.

But private banking is ultimately measured in clients, AUM, invested assets, and revenue, not just new hires and new capabilities. There is also the question of client confidence, and a presence in Hong Kong could also be important.

And that raises a question.

As Barclays rebuilds its Singapore franchise, when does a comeback become big enough to count? Is it on its way to being included in APB’s Asia AUM League Tables?

With US$23.8 billion in AUM and around 40 bankers in India alone, Barclays already has a base from which to build.