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Philipp Rickenbacher, CEO of the Swiss private bank Julius Baer
Photo: Arnd Wiegmann / REUTERS
According to a media report, Julius Baer boss Philipp Rickenbacher has to vacate his position immediately because of the large loans to the insolvent Signa Group. The Swiss private bank will announce this on Thursday together with the annual figures, the online portal “Tippinpoint” reported on Wednesday evening. At the same time, the entire Signa positions amounting to 606 million francs would be written off, the portal continued. It refers to “well-informed circles”. A Julius Baer spokeswoman did not want to comment on the report when contacted by AWP.
Consequences for managers
Other media had previously reported on possible personnel consequences at the bank, including the news agencies Bloomberg and Reuters. However, no decision has been made yet, Bloomberg wrote on Wednesday afternoon, citing people familiar with the matter. The Zurich bank is also considering other options to hold executives accountable - these include bonus cuts.
In November, Julius Baer announced that it had granted a loan of 606 million francs to a “European conglomerate”. This is apparently the now insolvent Signa Group of the Austrian real estate investor René Benko. The bank has now created loan provisions of 82 million francs, of which 70 million francs relate to the exposure at risk.
Further loan provisions are also expected to be announced at the annual financial statements on Thursday. Julius Baer had already announced in November that consolidated profit in 2023 would be below the previous year's level.
lph/dpa AFX