The former Credit Suisse banker had established himself as Vontobel's go-to man in countless legal cases. Now, the chief counsel is poised to leave the Swiss bank, finews.com has learned.
The 54-year-old Martin Taufer is leaving Vontobel at year-end, a spokeswoman for the bank confirmed to finews.com. He had joined the Swiss bank in 2012 from Credit Suisse, where he had been general counsel for Switzerland.
The departure of Taufer, who is leaving for a new professional challenge, is a major setback for Vontobel. The chief lawyer had been substantially involved in navigating Vontobel through various compliance and legal processes, with favorable results.
Discreet Mastermind
Within the bank, Taufer was considered a legal mastermind behind the scenes, for example preventing a cooperation dispute between the bank and partner Raiffeisen from escalating. He is also credited with wrapping up the case against former Bayern Munich club president Uli Hoeness for the bank.
Taufer was known as a team player. He led a team of roughly a dozen experts after Vontobel merged its legal and compliance teams with his hire. The team’s biggest cases currently are a tax investigation in Germany as well as in the U.S.
There, Vontobel is one of the few Swiss banks to have chosen the third category, or those which haven’t broken U.S. law, in an industry-wide tax settlement with U.S. investigators.
Fine in Germany
The German probe is expected to be settled by year-end, possibly even by the end of November. Vontobel is accused of helping wealthy Germans dodge taxes at home. The bank faces a fine, but not a profit disgorgement, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The bank hasn’t announced Taufer’s replacement yet, but could do so as soon as next week, according to a source familiar with the matter. His departure will not affect the department’s organizational setup, a spokeswoman said. Taufer will remain an advisor to the bank on certain mandates.
