Julius Baer chief resigns as bank announces plans to quit private debt business

Headquarters of the Julius Baer bank in Zurich (Keystone/Steffen Schmidt/AP)

Julius Baer says its chief executive is resigning and the Swiss bank is quitting the private debt business, as well as setting aside more than half a billion Swiss francs, reportedly over its exposure to bankrupt Austrian asset manager Signa.

Chairman Romeo Lacher expressed “regret” during a presentation on Thursday of the bank’s 2023 results, saying management had not been a “good steward of our firm” but that the troubles were a “single credit event” and other parts of the company were performing well.