Head of retail banking division and member of the executive board, Markus Gygax, is leaving Swiss banking group, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise on 30 November 2013, to take on the role of chief executive at Valiant Bank. 

Gygax has been head of BCV's retail banking division since 2008, and under his guidance, retail and e-banking at the firm strengthened, resulting in strong growth in business volumes during recent years. Gygax also oversaw the reorganisation and modernisation of the retail network and was one of the early proponents of mobile banking, the firm said.

Total group revenues at BCV were down 4 per cent year-on-year to SFr244 million (around $258 million), in the three months to 31 March 2013, due, in part, to a “low-interest-rate environment” and “prudent liquidity management”, which led to a SFr6 million decline in operating profit to SFr115 million, the firm said in its first quarter results.