Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) — Ivan Pictet, senior managing partner at Pictet & Cie., Switzerland’s biggest closely held private bank, says margins will be squeezed as bank secrecy comes under attack and the industry goes through a period of transition.
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) — Ivan Pictet, senior managing partner at Pictet & Cie., Switzerland’s biggest closely held private bank, says margins will be squeezed as bank secrecy comes under attack and the industry goes through a period of transition.
“Our industry has to prepare itself for a transition phase that will last between one and three years with margins under pressure and, if so, an impact on employment,” Pictet said in an interview with Bilan magazine published today. Frank Renggli, a spokesman for the Geneva-based bank, confirmed the comments.
Switzerland, whose banks manage $2 trillion, or 27 percent, of the world’s privately held offshore wealth, is under pressure from the U.S., Germany and France to weaken secrecy laws under which bankers can be jailed for divulging a client’s name. The government agreed Aug. 19 to hand over details on as many as 4,450 UBS AG accounts to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
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