Barclays says it has no plans to exit Swiss wealth management
Barclays has no plans to exit Swiss wealth management market in spite of the fact that country is fast losing its reputation as banking secrecy hub and regulatory cost has risen sharply in recent past.
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In the last two years, Barclays' rivals like Lloyds Banking Group, Bank of America and ABN Amro Bank sold their Swiss private banks.
"While the number of banks in Switzerland is falling and asset managers are seeking mergers to pool costs, Barclays isn't for sale," Bloomberg News quoted William Oullin, chairman of Barclays's international private bank, and Simon Gaston, heads of Barclays Bank Suisse, as saying.
"There is certainly confidence and commitment to Switzerland. I don't see today Barclays carrying on with international wealth management without Switzerland," Oullin added.
Earlier this month PBI reported that Barclays are to cut around 100 private banker roles to controls costs.
In September this year, the bank said it will pull out of more than 130 markets focus primarily on higher-net-worth clients.
Gaston said the bank's Swiss unit is amortizing costs of investment and it will report a loss this year.
"It may post a profit for the fourth quarter of 2014," the publication further quoted Gaston as saying.
Oullin said some of the players are in disarray and they don't have the critical size or the scale and this is why Barclays is expecting further consolidation in the industry.
The bank's client assets under management at the Swiss bank rose to about CHF25.5 billion (US$27 billion) this year from about CHF23 billion at the end of December, including funds overseen from Switzerland and booked abroad.
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