Julius Baer CEO resigns as Swiss bank announces plans to quit private debt business
By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press
GENEVA (AP) — Julius Baer says its CEO is resigning and the Swiss bank is quitting the private debt business as well as setting aside more than a half-billion dollars reportedly over its exposure to bankrupt Austrian asset manager Signa. CEO Philipp Rickenbacher said in a statement Thursday that he and the bank’s board agreed “it is in the best interest of the company for me to step down” and that the measures to quit the private debt business offered a way forward. The bank’s stock jumped. Signa Development faced a series of ratings downgrades and filed for insolvency proceedings in Vienna in late December.
