The battered Abu Dhabi-owned private bank found a seller for several billion in client assets: a Genevan wealth manager is buying them, and combining with another Swiss bank it snapped up as well.
One Swiss Bank, the product of a merger between Banca Arner and GS Bank, is consolidating several wealth managers including Falcon, it said in a statement on Friday. It plans to integrate the Zurich-based private bank's assets in a first step, while also taking a majority of Geneva's Banque Profil de Gestion – and then merging the two.
None of the parties disclosed financial terms of either deal. Geneva-based One said it will continue to operate Falcon's offices in Zurich, with ten to 15 staff. For Falcon, the move is the culmination of months of uncertainty – first over whether it could survive following the damaging 1MDB scandal, then over if it could sell itself, and lastly to offload its assets.
Profitable Growth
One is taking on an undisclosed number of Falcon private bankers, saying it can grow profitably by doing so and expand its client base. Falcon said the asset transfer, due to conclude in the first quarter, is a key part of its dissolution following the sale of its fund arm in Luxembourg three months ago.
Besides Falcon, One is buying 60.4 percent of Banque Profil de Gestion from Italy’s Banca Profilo. Ultimately, the entities will manage up to 5 billion Swiss francs ($5.5 billion) when combined, One said. The bank, which first began expanding by acquisition with asset manager Dynagest in 2018, currently manages 2.7 billion francs. It isn’t clear how profitable the Falcon assets are.
