ECONOMY

EFG International to cut up to 450 jobs as part of BSI integration

EFG International to cut up to 450 jobs as part of BSI integration

Swiss private bank EFG International plans to cut up to 450 jobs over the next three years as part of its takeover of BSI Bank.

Its acquisition of Swiss rival BSI from Brazil's Grupo BTG Pactual SA has made EFG one of Switzerland's biggest private banks, behind the likes of UBS, Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Pictet.

The acquisition was announced in February and completed in November for a preliminary 1.06 billion Swiss francs ($1.05 billion).

EFG said it now expects 100 to 150 job cuts per year between 2017 and 2019.

"Having conducted a more detailed analysis, additional synergies have been identified which will support us in building an efficient business of substantial scale to deliver sustainable growth," EFG Chief Executive Joachim Straehle said in a statement.

The cuts are across EFG and BSI, with around two thirds expected to take place in Switzerland. The merged bank has around 3,800 employees.

Zurich-based EFG, whose largest shareholder is Greece's Latsis family, also raised its targeted cost savings from the takeover by 55 million francs to around 240 million by 2019.

EFG will close BSI's Panama branch late next year and has agreed a partial sale of BSI Bahamas client portfolios. It also plans to sell its Independent Financial Advisers business in Britain.

Overall, EFG now expects the BSI integration to cost around 250 million francs between 2016 and 2018, up from 200 million previously forecast.

The bank manages 148 billion francs in assets, although EFG forecasts outflows of around 10 billion francs over the next three years resulting from the BSI deal.

The acquisition was complicated by BSI's legal troubles which included its dealings with scandal-hit Malaysian government fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

[Reuters]

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