Falcon Private Bank is losing its long-standing operative chief and deputy head, who is moving to a Swiss banking software provider at a particularly tricky time for the Abu Dhabi-controlled private bank, which is reportedly linked to the scandal surrounding 1MDB.

Tobias Unger has been Chief Operating Officer at Zurich-based Falcon since 2010. The Swiss-born Unger, who worked at U.S. investment bank Merrill Lynch before joining Falcon, was a promising candidate to eventually succeed current CEO Eduardo Leeman.

Unger is leaving Falcon to join the top management of Avaloq, the Zurich-based software provider said on Tuesday. He joins in October.

BPO Center

The Falcon banker is set to become CEO of Avaloq Sourcing for Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and responsible for the outsourcing unit's offerings in both countries. Unger will be tasked with developing its Swiss Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Center, the firm said.

Unger replaces Markus Groeniger in that role, who is being promoted to Avaloq's top management with responsibility for all existing BPO centers. The Falcon executive knows Avaloq well, having outsourced the bank's platform as well as its back office to the software firm.

Threat of 1MDB

The surprise departure of its long-serving operating chief and deputy CEO comes at an inopportune time for the private bank. As finews.ch reported exclusively, the bank is planning an international expansion of its private banking activities.

According to media reports, Falcon is also under scrutiny for its dealings with 1MDB. That means the private bank may also have to deal with fallout from the growing scandal surrounding the Malaysian state fund, which most recently ensnared larger rival UBS