Switzerland’s Union Bancaire Privée already has a high caliber board of directors. One more well-known industry figure is now set to join.

Former Banque Edmond de Rothschild CEO François Pauly was elected to the board of directors of Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) last week, it is stated on the bank’s website.

The board comprises a total of seven members, including two family representatives Daniel de Picciotto (chairman) and Anne Rotmann de Picciotto, as well as big names such as Marcel Rohner, chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association, and David Blumer, head of alternative investments at U.S. asset manager Blackrock. 

More Than 35 Years in the Financial Sector

Pauly’s career spans 35 years in the financial sector, predominantly in private banking Having started out with Dexia and risen to its senior ranks, he has also been an executive and board member at Sal. Oppenheim and then at Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), where he was initially CEO and then chairman of the board of directors until 2016.

He is a graduate of the E.A.P School of Management, Oxford, Berlin (now ESCP Europe). 

Differences of Opinion With the Baroness

From 2016, Pauly was vice chairman of the board of directors of Edmond de Rothschild (Europe) in Luxembourg and chairman of the audit and risk committee of Edmond de Rothschild (Switzerland). He replaced former CEO Vincent Taupin in 2021 but stepped down just two years later, in March 2023, following an apparent difference of opinion with Baroness Ariane de Rothschild, as reported by finews.ch. She has since taken over operational responsibility of the bank. 

Pauly already sits on various other supervisory boards and is chairman of family-owned insurance company La Luxembourgeoise.