Notenstein La Roche appointed a young manager from within the ranks to take over the lead of its core branch in eastern Switzerland. His predecessor, one of the company's most senior bankers, decided to join a competitor.
Werner Kruesi (pictured left), the outgoing head of Notenstein La Roche's business in eastern Switzerland, used to be partner at Wegelin. Switzerland's oldest private bank in 2012 sold its private banking to Raiffeisen due to the tax dispute with the U.S. Kruesi went along with the unit, now called Notenstein La Roche, and took charge of the regional business at the main branch, based in St. Gallen.
The veteran banker now has left, Notenstein La Roche confirmed. «Werner Kruesi decided to leave our bank,» the company said in a statement to finews.ch.
Successor a Keen Sportsman
The private bank has already appointed a successor. Edy Tanner last week took charge of the region. Tanner has been a relationship manager for eight years and team leader.
He also is a keen show jumper, making it into the top three at the Longines CSI in St. Moritz with «la Traviata 39» (pictured below).
Kruesi meanwhile has taken his team to Reichmuth, a rival private bank based in Lucerne, «Inside Paradeplatz» reported. At Reichmuth, Kruesi is taking charge of the St. Gallen branch. Reichmuth has yet to respond to a request for information by finews.ch.
Previous Departures
Kruesi's departure isn't the first of a seasoned banker. The head of the branch in Zurich, Silvan Schriber, joined Additiv, a Zurich-based fintech company, as chief operating officer, starting at the beginning of this month. Schriber was responsible for Notenstein's digitization strategy.
In October 2016, the bank reshuffled its management. Ivan Adamovich, the deputy CEO, and Martin Liebi, head of private banking Switzerland, left the company. The Bank had been forced to enforce drastic cost cuts last year to make the firm leaner. Notenstein manages about 21 billion Swiss francs.
