Bank Hapoalim Switzerland will fire most of its staff as sells the business to J. Safra Sarasin. The bankers’ trade association is not amused.
Bank Hapoalim Switzerland is about to shut down. It will sell its assets under management to J. Safra Sarasin, as was reported earlier. More than 100 of its staff of about 120 will lose their jobs in the process.
The bank promised the sacked members of staff a redundancy package including severance pay. In total, Bank Hapoalim will spend about 30 million francs on closing down in Switzerland.
Meager Package
The association representing Swiss bankers (SBPV) says the severance pay offered to its members was very low und that the management, including the CEO stood to gain the most. This included lawyers who worked to find a settlement for the tax dispute with the U.S. Hapoalim Switzerland is a category 1 bank.
The staff also will receive a redundancy pay only if they fully cooperate with U.S. authorities, according to SBPV. The association says that most of them had had no direct contact with U.S. customers.
Renegotiation Demanded
«SBPV wonders if not the management of the bank simply is delegating its own responsibility to the normal members of staff,» the association said. SBPV demands a fresh round of talks regarding the redundancy payments.
