Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Swiss private bank Falcon replaces CEO with ex-Credit Suisse exec

Latest: Corruption and Money Laundering.

Swiss private bank Falcon replaces CEO with ex-Credit Suisse exec.

By Oliver Hirt and Stanley Carvalho | ZURICH/ABU DHABI


IMDB, founded by Najib in 2009 shortly after
 he came to office, is being investigated for
 money-laundering in several countries.

Switzerland's Falcon Private Bank has appointed ex-Credit Suisse executive Walter Berchtold as chief executive to replace Eduardo Leemann, the wealth manager said on Thursday, confirming what sources earlier told Reuters.

Zurich-based Falcon, owned by Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), said Leemann, 60, had decided last year to stand down.
"Eduardo Leemann informed the board (at the) beginning of 2015 that he wanted to retire from the operational management at the age of 60," Chairman Murtadha M. al Hashmi said in a statement.
Reuters reported the management change earlier on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Falcon is under scrutiny in Singapore after the central bank disclosed in late July that an onsite inspection of the group in April 2016 found "substantial breaches" of anti-money laundering regulations.
Singapore said Falcon's management of key client relationships were done out of the bank's head office in Switzerland and that the examination was still ongoing.
The inspection was part of Singapore's money laundering probe linked to Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), under which the central bank has questioned several banks since last year.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that investigators had traced nearly $700 million from an account at Falcon in Singapore to accounts in Malaysia they believed belonged to Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak.
IMDB, founded by Najib in 2009 shortly after he came to office, is being investigated for money-laundering in several countries.
Both 1MDB and Najib have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

By Oliver Hirt and Stanley Carvalho | ZURICH/ABU DHABI






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