An ex-Partner of Gonet Private Bank in Geneva has turned up as the head of a Swiss private bank with ties to the Middle East.
Serge Robin is headed for Arab Bank Switzerland, where he was appointed CEO at the beginning of July. Robin, a veteran Genevan banker, is being tasked with growing the Swiss bank, which counts former central bank head Jean-Pierre Roth among its board directors.
Genevan Connections
He replaces Nasri Malhamé, who shut the bank's Zurich offices two years ago and relocate to Geneva. Arab Bank in Switzerland is a sister company of Arab Bank, which was founded in Jerusalem in 1930 and today is domiciled and listed in Jordan. The Swiss arm manages 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.04 billion) in client assets, mainly on behalf of Middle Eastern clients.
These clients have traditionally bypassed Zurich in favor of Geneva, where Robin ran Merrill Lynch's private bank in Switzerland from 2005 until 2010 until the bank was taken over by Julius Baer. Previously, he worked for Lombard Odier and UBS.
His partnership at Gonet in 2010 was meant to be the crowning achievement in a long Swiss private banking career. He left the bank last year.
