ZURICH (Reuters) - Bank am Bellevue (S:BBN) Chief Executive Serge Monnerat resigned on Tuesday as the Swiss bank's parent company announced the closure of the unit's brokerage and corporate finance activities on grounds that a revenue erosion was irreversible.
The bank, part of Zurich-based Bellevue Group AG , said in a statement that restructuring that includes 25 job cuts would be completed by mid-2017 and could result in a one-off charge of between 3 million and 5 million Swiss francs (3.98 million pounds).
Among other factors, Bellevue Group blamed margin pressure and increasing regulatory and technological requirements within the brokerage and corporate finance activities as factors for the decision to shutter them.
It is now staking its future on developing Bank am Bellevue's business for entrepreneurial private clients and the group's strategic focus on asset and wealth management.
"The brokerage and corporate finance activities can no longer be conducted in an economically viable way," Bellevue Group said in the statement. "The development of the recently launched wealth management business for entrepreneurial private clients will proceed as planned."
Andre Rueegg, the CEO of Bellevue Group, will become CEO of Bank am Bellevue on an interim basis.