Its
acquisition of Swiss rival BSI 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.
The acquisition was announced in February and completed in
November for a preliminary 1.06 billion Swiss francs ($1.05
billion).
EFG said it now expects 100 to 150 job cuts per year between
2017 and 2019.
"Having conducted a more detailed analysis, additional synergies
have been identified which will support us in building an
efficient business of substantial scale to deliver sustainable
growth," EFG Chief Executive Joachim Straehle said in a
statement.
The cuts are across EFG and BSI, with around two thirds expected
to take place in Switzerland. The merged bank has around 3,800
employees.
Zurich-based EFG, whose largest shareholder is Greece's Latsis
family, also raised its targeted cost savings from the takeover
by 55 million francs to around 240 million by 2019.
EFG will close BSI's Panama branch late next year and has agreed
a partial sale of BSI Bahamas client portfolios. It also plans
to sell its Independent Financial Advisers business in Britain.
Overall, EFG now expects the BSI integration to cost around 250
million francs between 2016 and 2018, up from 200 million
previously forecast.
The bank manages 148 billion francs in assets, although EFG
forecasts outflows of around 10 billion francs over the next
three years resulting from the BSI deal.
The acquisition was complicated by BSI's legal troubles which
included its dealings with scandal-hit Malaysian government fund
1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
($1 = 1.0065 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; editing by Jason Neely)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](column_spacer.png) |
|