Julius Bär, the largest private bank in Switzerland, is facing a crisis as its stock value continues to decline. In the past two weeks, the bank has experienced a historic loss of over 2 billion Swiss francs, dropping from 11 billion to 9 billion. The bank’s board of directors is under pressure to take decisive action and steer the bank out of this downward spiral. One individual who is particularly at risk is Philipp Rickenbacher, the CEO of Julius Bär since 2019. Rickenbacher recently stated that the 600 million loans to René Benko’s collapsed Signa were approved by all levels of authority, including the board of directors. This statement has put Rickenbacher’s superior, Romeo Lacher, the chairman of the board, in a difficult position. There is speculation that there may be a showdown between Lacher and Rickenbacher regarding the Benko situation. Internally, the bets are against the CEO. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is demanding all the relevant information, with a focus on how those responsible could have taken on the risk associated with Benko, especially considering his controversial background. Benko’s name was effectively on a blacklist due to a past criminal conviction in Austria. It is believed that Benko’s foundations were used as a loophole, with his children being the beneficiaries. Despite the knowledge that Benko was pulling the strings at Signa, the top executives at Julius Bär seemed unconcerned, as the prospect of significant profits and resulting bonuses outweighed any potential risks. Four years ago, the bank financed the Globus deal, which reportedly brought in a substantial profit. This experience may have influenced the bank’s decision to work with Benko when he was seeking a replacement for Credit Suisse. The CS had recently experienced a significant loss due to a former South Korean criminal. However, Julius Bär had no qualms about extending credit to Benko, even accepting Signa shares as collateral. The value of these shares, following Signa’s application for insolvency, remains uncertain.

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Information	Details
Geography	Europe
Countries	🇦🇹 🇨🇭
Sentiment	negative
Relevance Score	1
People	René Benkos, Romeo Lacher, Philipp Rickenbacher
Companies	Globus-Deal, Julius Bär, Credit Suisse, CS, Signa-Gruppe
Currencies	None
Securities	None