Swiss bank Julius Bär sells its Brazilian operation

In Brazil, Julius Bär currently has branches in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro (pictured), where it serves wealthy clients. Keystone-SDA

Swiss private bank Julius Bär has signed an agreement to sell its operation in Brazil, Julius Baer Brasil Gestão de Patrimônio e Consultoria de Valores Mobiliários, to Banco BTG Pactual for 615 million reais, or CHF91 million ($100.7 million).

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The Swiss bank will continue to serve its Brazilian customers from other regions where the group is present, it said in a press release on Tuesday. These include Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia and Spain.

In Brazil, Julius Bär currently has branches in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro, where it serves wealthy clients. At the end of November 2024, the company had 61 billion reais (CHF9 billion) of assets under management there.

The transaction, scheduled to close by the end of March, is expected to add 30 basis points to the bank’s CET1 ratio. The latter stood at 16.7% at the end of the first ten months of 2024.

Brazilian media outlet O Globo leaked the information on Monday evening, but put the value of the transaction at around 1 billion reais, or CHF150 million.

Overhaul of banking activities

Julius Bär is in the midst of a major overhaul of its activities, following the debacle surrounding the real estate group Signa. In July 2024, the bank raised its gross savings target for the current strategic cycle to CHF145 million, up from CHF120 million previously. The savings plan entails the elimination of 250 jobs and is due to be fully implemented by the end of 2025.

The announcements come as Swiss Stefan Bollinger takes over the helm of the Zurich-based company on Thursday. Since the departure in February 2024 of Philipp Rickenbacher, who left in the wake of the losses incurred in the Signa affair, current deputy general manager, Nic Dreckmann, has been in charge on an interim basis.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

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