BSI

Former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei was found guilty for his role in the most complex, sophisticated and largest money-laundering case involving billions of dollars alleged to have been misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Singapore sentenced former Yeo Jiawei to 30 months in jail after a 12-day trial. He is the third BSI banker convicted in the city state this year.

The prosecutors had charged that Yeo had amassed $16.55 million by taking secret profits from 1MDB-linked transactions during his work for the Singapore unit of BSI.

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.

The acquisition of Ticino-based bank 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. EFG announced its intention to acquire BSI in February and is currently integrating its assets, personnel and systems.

Prosecutors said on Tuesday former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei earned S$23.9 (US$ 16.7) million , in 15 months as an “independent consultant”, through “illicit means”, including secret deals with people linked to the multi-jurisdictional probe into scandal-hit Malaysian state fund 1MDB.

In court on Tuesday, Yeo revealed that his net worth was around S$2 (US$ 1.39) million when he left BSI bank in Singapore. This was from his basic salary and bonuses earned while he was an employee there.
In his cross examination on Tuesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng said it was “quite unbelievable” that Yeo could amass so much by acting as a mere “introducer, intermediary, independent consultant or relationship manager”.

EFG International has completed the integration of BSI in Singapore, included client relationships and employees, as it referred in a statement today. EFG International announced its intention to acquire Swiss-based BSI before the scandal surrounding 1MDB caught the public’s eye.

A Singapore court jailed Yak Yew Chee on Friday, a former banker who handled Swiss bank BSI’s relationship with state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) for 18 weeks for forgery and failure to disclose suspicious transactions, as Reuters referred.

BSI was acquired by EFG International: the agreement was closed for 1.06 billion francs as announced by the Zurich-based institute, 270 million less than expected and announced in February. The total price is made up of 575 million francs in cash, 86.2 million EFG shares valued at 454 million francs and 31 million francs of AT1 instruments issued by EFG International, as the company reported in a statement.

Yeo Jiawei, former private banker, went on trial in Singapore on Monday in the first prosecution of suspects linked to a massive international money-laundering scandal centred on Malaysian state fund 1MDB.
State prosecutors described the sums involved as “staggering” and said Yeo allegedly pocketed $18.7 million.
Yeo, 33, did so through various means, including “illicit” schemes to swindle his own bank, added prosecutors, who accused him of playing a central role in the “most complex, sophisticated and largest” money-laundering case that the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) has ever come across, as the written statement issued at the trial reported.

BSI planned a series of layoffs, as reported yesterday by leaders of the bank’s to RSI television: cutting 14 employees (out of a total of 1,200 employees in Switzerland) are not part of a restructuring process, as "Dismissal it is an ordinary measure developed over time due to poor performance."