The Basel-based bank is buying an emblematic building in the heart of Geneva's financial district from a competitor which has trimmed its business in Switzerland.
Banking group J. Safra Sarasin is buying a 15,000-square meter building Geneva from its competitor BNP Paribas in Geneva for 270.3 million Swiss francs ($292,6), according to business magazine «Bilan» (behind paywall, in French).
The transaction involves a sale and lease-back agreement with a three to five-year lease, according to the magazine. In 2004 the subsidiary of the French bank acquired the property for 80 million francs, it adds.
BNP Paribas began to shrink its Swiss workforce in 2020, after halting its commodity trade financing business in Switzerland to focus more on corporate and institutional banking as well as wealth management.
