Swiss private bank UBP’s CEO Guy de Picciotto rejected the claims that Swiss private banking is dead and argued that Switzerland still has plenty to offer clients.
Picciotto in an interview to The Financial Times said, "The high level of expertise we have, as well as the stability of Switzerland and its low debt levels, still make it an attractive place as a custodian of wealthy people’s assets."
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However, he confessed that Swiss private banks have been hit hardly in the recent times, with the erosion of its banking secrecy law, the appreciation of its currency as well as low interest rates.
This resulted in rivals, most recently the head of Abu Dhabi’s international financial centre, forecasting the death of Swiss private banking.
Picciotto further said that though the US and Western European markets were becoming tougher for Swiss private banks with signing of data swapping agreements, other markets are offering opportunities.
"Asia, the Middle East and eastern European countries have certainly replaced traditional Western European markets," the FT quoted him as saying.
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By GlobalDataUBP last month acquired the non-UK operations of Coutts from RBS. Referring to this acquisition Picciotto said that the UBP would put a halt to acquisitions for at least a year while it integrated the Coutts assets.
He added that nearly a fifth of Coutts clients were expected to depart from the bank during the move to UBP.
"There is always some attrition. But we will offer a retention package to the relationship managers to try and keep as many as possible," Picciotto remarked.
