|
The group on Monday named Deepak Soni to head its subsidiary UBP
Investment Advisors. Among other things, he will oversee the
addition of a new Zurich branch, UBP said in a statement.
Soni, who previously managed bank Vontobel's <VONN.S> advisory
for U.S. clients, has been tasked with growing the bank's
business managing wealthy Americans' assets.
Over the next three years, the group wants to grow its business
for U.S. clients to some 2 billion Swiss francs ($2 billion) of
managed assets, a spokesman said, declining to quantify the
current size.
"The United States is the world's biggest wealth management
market today and is therefore a priority market for UBP,"
private banking head Michel Longhini said in a statement.
"We are very pleased to have hired Deepak Soni."
UBP group assets under management totaled 125.3 billion Swiss
francs at the end of last year.
UBP was among Swiss banks that came under fire from U.S.
authorities starting in 2008 for allegedly helping wealthy
Americans dodge taxes.
The Geneva-based bank reached a deal with the U.S. Department of
Justice (DOJ) in 2016, paying over $187 million to resolve
potential issues related to undeclared accounts and efforts to
help Americans conceal income and assets.
At the time, the DOJ said the bank had held nearly 3,000
U.S.-related accounts since mid-2008 when factoring in
acquisitions it made over the period, managing some $4.9 billion
for U.S. clients at its peak.
Switzerland, the world's largest center for offshore wealth, has
since introduced largely automatic information-sharing on tax
matters between many countries as it curtails banking secrecy.
Soni assumed his role on June 1.
(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Mark Potter)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
