Farewell: Zeno Staub, head of the Swiss bank Vontobel, wants to step down in 2024 and move into politics
Photo: A3250 Oliver Berg/ dpa
It is a personnel report that is causing a stir in the Swiss banking world. After twelve years as CEO of Vontobel, Zeno Staub intends to step down at the Annual General Meeting in April 2024. The CEO of the once radiant Zurich-based private bank wants to move into politics and run for a seat in the Swiss parliament in the fall of 2023 as a representative of the party "Die Mitte", the bank announced on Wednesday. A successor should be found by the end of 2023.
A new Chief Operating Officer is also to be found by the same date. The current incumbent and one of Staub's closest confidants, Felix Lenhard, wants to hand over operational responsibility by the end of the year in order to be able to concentrate more on his family. He held the post for 13 years.
It's a double whammy. Staub had led the bank in a good position for many years and developed it into a profit machine. Recently, however, she had stuttered. In 2022, it recorded a decline in profits of around 40 percent to 230 million francs. Asset management, once the bank's flagship, is particularly worrying. There were significant net cash outflows there in 2022.
"After two decades of leadership responsibility at Vontobel, I have decided to give back to the country and the people of Switzerland some of what they have made possible for me," said Staub as he bid farewell. He continues to collect his salary, the amount of which has always been the subject of heated debates in Switzerland. For 2021, he received a total remuneration of 4.4 million Swiss francs, in 2022 only 2.5 million francs due to lower bonuses due to the situation.
After a one-year cooling-off period, he is to be elected as a simple member of Vontobel's Board of Directors in 2025. The bank intends to determine Staub's successor as CEO by the end of 2023, taking into account internal and external candidates.
lhy with Reuters