Valiant Chief Executive Markus Gygax is stepping down, with a successor already in place. Gygax will stay at the regional bank.

Valiant Bank, which is based in the Swiss capital Bern, will get a new CEO at the annual general meeting in May 2019. Markus Gygax will step down and stand for election to the board, the bank said on Friday (release in German). A year later, he is slated to take over as chairman.

Ewald Burgener

Valiant appointed Ewald Burgener (pictured above) as successor to the CEO. Burgener currently works as the bank’s chief financial officer and deputy to Gygax. The board completed a thorough selection procedure with internal and external candidates, the bank said.

Retail Banking Experience

Burgener ended up as the choice candidate because of his experience and personality. He has a profound knowledge of Swiss retail banking, said Chairman Juerg Bucher. The chairman will pass on his duties to Gygax in 2020.

Burgener, 52, has been CFO of Valiant for the past five years and seconded Gygax since December of 2015. He previously worked at EY and as a CFO at Regionalbanken Holding RBA.

Gygax was appointed CEO of Valiant in 2013, completed the company’s turnaround and initiated the modernization of branches and digitization of its offering.