Switzerland's financial regulator, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority, said on the 29th that it had found serious breaches of supervisory rules on risk management and anti-money-laundering obligations at the major private bank Julius Baer. The investigation concerned private debt lending to a European corporate group and client relationships linked to two Russians considered politically influential figures. The authority said the bank ignored numerous red flags and, as a result of conducting opaque transactions in breach of its own risk limits, was forced to write off in full an exposure that stood at 586 million francs at the end of 2023. It ordered Julius Baer to hold an additional 250 million Swiss francs, or 300 million dollars, in capital until it completes a plan to exit business relationships with unsuitable clients. Since September 2019, Julius Baer had lent to a European corporate group and its founder in its new private debt business, with credit extended eventually exceeding 1 billion Swiss francs. This is the fifth enforcement proceeding the authority has brought against Julius Baer in less than a decade.
Julius Baer Gruppe AGSwiss regulator found serious risk-management and AML breaches and ordered Julius Baer to hold an extra 250 million francs in capital.
