The
agreement is expected to be among a host of deals and closures
in the Swiss banking industry, as an international crackdown on
tax avoidance and costly regulation put pressure on banks, many
of whom had relied on Switzerland's bank secrecy rules.
Consultancy KPMG has estimated the number of Swiss private banks
will fall to fewer than 100 in the next three years from around
130 now.
Geneva-based Banque Heritage will take on guaranteed deposits of
up to 100,000 Swiss francs ($98,678) as well as assets held at
the bank, part of efforts to boost its presence in emerging
markets, Europe and the Middle East.
It did not disclose the value of the transaction.
This follows Banque Heritage's purchase in February of client
assets from British bank Standard Chartered.
Swiss financial regulator FINMA said in October it had initiated
bankruptcy proceedings against Zurich-based Bank Hottinger,
which was founded in 1786.
($1 = 1.0134 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by David Holmes)
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