Swiss-based private bank appoints a new chairman after the current one unexpectedly departs.
EFG International is appointing Alexander «Alex» Classen as its new chairman, replacing Peter Fanconi (image below), who is departing at the end of October 2022 for personal reasons, it said in an emailed statement Thursday.
(Image: Blue Orchard)
Classen, a Swiss citizen, has held numerous senior management positions. Since 2018, he has been the CEO and country head Switzerland for HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), a position he will now resign effective 30 September.
Starting at Pictet
Previously, Classen was a Managing Partner at Bedrock, a global investment consultancy based in Geneva. Between 2011 and 2015, he was CEO Coutts International before the business was taken over by Union Bancaire Privée. He also worked a four-year stint at Morgan Stanley International as head of private wealth management EMEA. He also headed Goldman Sachs bank in Zurich as general manager between 2000 and 2006.
He began his career at Pictet in 1985 as a portfolio manager and private banker, running its business in Singapore as the local CEO between 1995 and 2000. He has a degree in business administration from the University of Geneva.
Questionable Double Mandate
Fanconi became chairman of EFG International in April 2020 during a time when he also supervised the activities of Graubunden Cantonal Bank, a position he had held since 2014. The two mandates periodically raised eyebrows in Swiss finance although they did not appear to pose problems to either institute. In 2012, he co-founded Swiss impact investment boutique Blue Orchard Finance, where he was CEO until the end of 2015. He went on to become its chairman, a role he still holds.
«Under Peter Fanconi's leadership, we successfully achieved the turnaround and significantly increased our profitability. The bank is now very well positioned to continue on its current growth path,», said John Latsis, member of the board of directors and a principal representative of EFG International's major shareholder.
Boris Collardi Returns
(Image: Keystone)
The board intends to hold an extraordinary general meeting on October 6, after receipt of the necessary approvals from Swiss regulator Finma. The plan is to elect Classen to the board as a new member with immediate effect and appoint him as chair at the start of November 2022.
Boris Collardi will also be proposed for election to the board of directors as a non-independent member following his nomination in April, as finews.com reported previously.
More to follow.
