Banks

Banks in Switzerland saw their profits nearly halve to CHF 7.9 billion in 2016 amid continuing global pressure on their famed secrecy walls. Surprisingly, the overall customer deposits, domestic as well as foreign, rose in Swiss banks.

The staff count, however, was down, as the number of banks, which declined again last year, from 266 to 261, for the fourth year in a row. While two new banks came up seven moved out from the list, as per the annual statistics released today by Zurich-based Swiss National Bank (SNB), the country’s central banking authority.

The Luxembourg Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF) have fined the local arm of Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild for its handling of funds linked to scandal-hit Malaysian investment fund 1MDB, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The CSSF communicated the conclusion of the administrative procedure to Edmond de Rothschild (Europe) on 21 June," the private bank said on Thursday.

Nomura picked Frankfurt as the headquarters for its European Union operations after the UK leaves the bloc, Bloomberg reported.

Japan’s biggest brokerage will start preparations this month to form a base in the German financial centre, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is confidential. The decision will necessitate regulatory approval along with securing the requisite office space before transferring fewer than 100 employees from London to the city, according to the person.

Little Luxembourg is luring firms on the lookout for a post-Brexit foothold in the European Union, from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to insurance giant American International Group Inc.

Bloomberg News reports that while many find the Grand Duchy a multilingual paradise, would-be expats are being warned not to expect the cosmopolitan lifestyle they currently enjoy in London and that they should prepare to spend long hours on clogged roads.

UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti considers the global banking sector has generated a degree of complexity such that it can only be managed by artificial intelligence (IA). In an interview on TeleTicino on Sunday, he underlined "we arrive at a human physical limit to manage all this complexity."

The phenomenon of digitization of the banking sector, which is imperative to maintain international competitiveness, should be viewed positively, Ermotti said, because it enables customers to provide more precise and faster services while banks can optimize the costs.

For Ermotti "These changes are also reflected in the elimination of certain activities,". However, he recalled that in Switzerland, one million people will retire in the next ten years, while at the same time job market will require only half million.

Credit Suisse USA said Tuesday it will expand its Research Triangle Park operations, creating 1,200 new jobs and spending $70.5 million on capital investments.

Eric Varvel, president and chief executive of Credit Suisse USA, said the company had planned to expand earlier in North Carolina, but held off because of House Bill 2, known as the transgender restroom law.

“While it was on the books, we chose to halt our expansion plans in the state and consider other options,” Varvel said. “We realize the recent repeal of HB2 contains some compromises, and while not perfect, it is an important first step that re-establishes the minimum conditions for us to expand our presence in the state.”

Bankers in junior positions in the City of London who work for British-headquartered banks picked up bonuses of just a quarter of what those working for American institutions in the UK earned, according to research by salary-benchmarking site Emolument.

Salary-benchmarking site Emolument surveyed 1,640 London bankers on this year’s bonus payouts and found the majority were either unhappy with, or unsure how to feel about, the amount they received.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have placed the chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley, under investigation after he reportedly tried to discover the identity of a whistleblower, prompting experts to warn that the case could deter employees from reporting bad behaviour. Barclays said it never learned the identity.