Julius Baer has confirmed that CEO Philipp Rickenbacher is stepping down after the Swiss bank lost CHF 586 million on its private debt portfolio, wiping out more than half of its profits for the year.
The bank said it was selling the remaining 0.8 billion Swiss francs as a private loan and would exit the business after it decided to completely write off its liabilities to collapsed property group Signa.
The Zurich-headquartered bank said it was refocusing on its lending business, which includes pawnshop and mortgage lending.