A few months into the job, Barclays' Swiss head Rahim Daya tells finews.com what the British bank's plans in the alpine nation are.

«Moving to Switzerland was a big deal for me» said Rahim Daya, who was made CEO of Barclays Bank (Suisse) in April aged 38. «Being here has shown me even more how Switzerland is still the preferred destination for global wealth,» he said.

The difference to his other position, where he is responsible for the private bank in the Middle East, is that business is generated in Dubai but not booked there. «Eighty percent of business from Dubai is booked in Switzerland,» Daya said.

International Setup

Clients come to the private bank in Geneva for specific reasons. According to Daya, they either want to buy property in Switzerland, the U.K. or the South of France, or they ask the private bank to manage their wealth.

«Due to its international setup Barclays Suisse can do both,» he said. It’s precisely these ties to the U.K., France, and the Middle East which are key to maintaining the bank’s growth trajectory, Daya said.

Corona Catalyst

Barclays Swiss' arm reported a profit of 2.65 million Swiss francs ($2.8 million) in the first half year of 2021, boosting last year’s gains of 4.52 million francs for the whole year. In 2020 assets under management grew by 3 percent to 14.9 billion francs with net new money accounting for 900 million francs of that.
 
The corona pandemic propped up demand for Barclays’ banking services and activity in property investments has been especially strong over the last two years, Daya said.

Advantageous Size

With its 300 employees in Geneva, clients – even Swiss ones – see the private bank’s small size as an advantage, Daya said. «Clients at Barclays Suisse feel taken care of. They appreciate that we are not one of the country’s big banks where they can sometimes feel lost,» he added.