Two more than 150-year-old Genevan banks have decided to merge. It promises not to be the last such transaction as the pressure rises on smaller Swiss firms.
Genevan private banks Gonet and Mourgue d' Algue are planning to merge. The two want to enter «a new phase of development in a rapidly changing banking environment,» they said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal is retroactive on July 1, but must still be rubber-stamped by banking regulator Finma.
Presented as a merger of equals, the tie-up is more of a takeover: the Mourgue d' Algue name will disappear. The new company, with 150 employees and roughly 5 billion Swiss francs ($5 billion) in assets, will carry Gonet’s name.
Merger vs Takeover
Nicolas Gonet will become CEO, while both of Mourgue d' Algue’s partners, Pierre-André and Swana Mourgue d' Algue, will join the management and continue to tend to clients.
The hierarchy mirrors the weighting of the new bank: Gonet is bringing 4 billion francs into the match-up. Gonet sees itself in a «dynamic of qualitative growth». Like many of its competitors, the bank wants to be a proactive consolidator of Switzerland’s dwindling financial center, particularly in Geneva.
The bank recently expanded in the Bahamas with five ex-Julius Baer Latin American bankers. The bank, founded in 1845, has branches in Geneva, Lausanne, Abu Dhabi and Nassau.
Exiting Geneva
Little is known of why Mourgue d' Algue is giving up its independence. The two families share similar values, the need for independence, and an entrepreneurial spirit.
The fact is that Genevan banks have struggled with the end of banking secrecy more than larger rivals like UBS. Negative interest rates, higher spending due to regulatory demands, and an ever more demanding clientele have piled on the pressure in recent years.
Several banks have left Geneva, including Banque Morval, which was swallowed by Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo last year.
Few «Privés» Left
Founded in 1869, Mourgue d' Algue is one of Geneva’s oldest firms – even if the banquier privé tradition only goes back to 1976, when the bank acquired rival Pivot, earlier known as Philippe Grosset private bank. Until then, Mourgue d'Algue was a family office for the eponymous family of industrialists.
The bank was built by George-Emile and Pierre-Yves Mourgue d' Algue, who left the bank in 2013 and 2017, respectively. The name will now disappear from the diminishing list of true «privés» in Geneva, which vouch for their bank with their personal fortune. Gonet had already backed away from the legal form two years ago, following larger rivals Lombard Odier and Pictet, which had done so in 2014.
Bordier is the only true Genevan «privé» bank remaining; the others are Basel’s Baumann, E. Gutzwiller as well as Rahn and Bodmer in Zurich and Reichmuth in Lucerne.
