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NEWS |
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Joseph Safra Opens Swiss Private Bank,
Ulrika Lomas, Tax-news.com, Brussels 22 June 2000
Joseph Safra, the
brother of Edmond Safra, the controversial banker who died in
a tragic Monte Carlo penthouse fire last year, is to open a Swiss
private bank, following in the footsteps of his brother, who built
up a large banking empire and was a key figure in Geneva private
banking circles.
The new bank is the
direct result of Joseph Safra having been granted a coveted Swiss
banking licence after Swiss authorities approved Safra's purchase
of the small Uto Bank in Switzerland. The operation will be renamed
Bank Jacob Safra, after his father, and although it will initially
be only a small concern employing 20 people, the bank already
has expansion plans on its agenda. It is headquartered in Zurich
but will include a Geneva branch not far from the location of
Edmond Safra's old Republic National Bank, which he sold to HSBC
Holdings shortly before his death.
Joseph Safra said
'Switzerland is an important strategic base for international
banking business, and the bank can build on 150 years of experience
and tradition of the Safra family.'
Suggestions that
the new Swiss bank was targeting business from HSBC were denied,
but bankers will recall the high-profile events of the 1980's,
which saw a large-scale feud between Edmond Safra and American
Express, among allegations of money laundering, and accusations
that Edmond Safra competed unfairly with American Express using
Geneva-based Trade Development Bank employees after selling the
bank to the US group.
Joseph Safra's new
bank will focus on private banking, a sector where not just HSBC
but an increasing number of other foreign banks are expanding
alongside Swiss private banks. Its operations are totally separate
form those of the Safra Group, led by Joseph and another brother
Moise, although it will be run and controlled by Joseph. Moise
Safra said that he was pleased that the new bank will 'keep the
memory of our father alive', and also said that Joseph's experience
'makes him predestined to take over the responsibility and control
of the (new) bank.'
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