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Restructuring to cost Swiss private bank 450 jobs

Switzerland will face the brunt of EFG/BSI job cuts Keystone

EFG bank is to slash up to 450 jobs – two thirds of them in Switzerland – following the integration of the scandal-hit BSI bank into its fold. By 2019, EFG wants to save CHF240 million ($238 million) in cost synergies per annum.

The jobs will be shed at a rate of 100-150 per year between 2017 and 2019.

BSI lost its license to operate independently in both Switzerland and Singapore after it became embroiled in the Malaysian 1MDB wealth fund scandal. It was also heavily fined by the United States in the Swiss banking tax evasion spat.

EFG announced its intention to acquire the Lugano-based BSI from BTG Pactual in February and is currently integrating its assets, personnel and systems. It has completed this process in Singapore, where most of BSI’s 1MDB scandal problems stem from, and expects the migration in all regions – including Switzerland – to be complete by the end of next year.

Former BSI bankers and executives are currently under criminal investigation after the bank was found to have played a key role in laundering funds from 1MDB.

Zurich-headquartered EFG said on Thursday that the acquisition of BSI had swelled group assets under management to CHF148 billion. Despite shedding 100-150 jobs, mostly in Switzerland, over the next three years, EFG said that Zurich, Lugano and Geneva would remain “important hubs” for the combined bank.

However, BSI’s operations in Panama will be shut down along with some business activities in the Bahamas and Britain, EFG said on Thursday. Estimated integration costs were raised from CHF200 million to CHF250 million.

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