Swiss private bank says Brexit has hit plans but sterling’s fall opens up opportunities.
Julius Baer, Switzerland’s biggest standalone private bank, sees Brexit as an opportunity to acquire a rival in the UK, according to chief executive Boris Collardi.
The bank, with a market value of SFr11.3bn ($11.2bn) and assets under management of SFr336m, already has more than 200 staff in the UK. It was planning to build a European hub there before the UK voted last year to quit the EU.
“If a UK bank became a seller (of its private bank) at some stage and approached us, probably we would look at it, on the basis it would be a contrarian move at a moment when UK assets were cheap,” Mr Collardi told the Financial Times.
“And I’m sure that in five years’ time, everybody would say, maybe it was not such a bad transaction.” Sterling has fallen 13 per cent against the Swiss franc since the June 23 vote to quit the EU. [...]
Despite its enthusiasm for a UK acquisition, Julius Baer has paused plans for a European hub there because it believes Brexit will dent the UK’s economic growth, and that “foreigners will feel a little bit less welcome”.
“There are not that many people buying new properties, everything has slowed down a bit in terms of the bubbly, European hub,” Mr Collardi said. “We’re a bit on hold in the UK. I continue to believe we have to be in London, but we need to carefully assess the situation . . . I think eventually everything is going to be all right.” [...]
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