The British bank's Swiss outposting recorded a profit in 2019, after several tumultuous years.
Barclays in Switzerland returned a 4.1 million Swiss franc ($4.2 million) profit for 2019, from 10.6 million francs the prior year, according to the unit's annual report. The 2018 result has been bolstered by gains of 11,6 million francs from the sale of a Swiss software unit, without which the bank would've posted a 100,000 franc loss.
While modest, the 2019 profit represents a noteworthy success for the British bank, which has blown hot and cold on its activities in Switzerland since entering the market eight years ago. The bank posted a 17 percent climb in managed assets to 14.5 billion francs for 2019 – and 1.7 billion francs in fresh money.
Corona-Driven Inflows?
Two years ago, wealth veteran, Gérald Mathieu took over with the aim to ignite Barclays private bank in Switzerland, he told finews.tv. Barclays recently hired Amit Ben Sira from Credit Suisse, as well as five more private bankers.
Mathieu told Swiss online outlet «Allnews» (in French) he is holding fast to Barclays' expansion plans, flagging «significant» inflows from clients since the beginning of 2019. Barclays centers its Swiss operations on Geneva, where it employs 180 people.
