Switzerland’s private bank Vontobel will open a new office in Basel on 3 May, the bank has announced, while it also emerges that it also plans to open a branch in Bern.

Vontobel said that the new Basel office will be headed by Beat Brügger, who joined the bank at the end of last year together with a team of ten private bankers from AAM Privatbank, which was acquired by Basler Kantonalbank, the cantonal bank of Basel, in July last year.

A month after opening the Basel office, the bank intends to also open an office in Bern, finews, the Swiss financial news service reported.

When contacted by WealthBriefing, the bank confirmed this and said than an official statement will be made in due course.

With regards to the Basel office, Peter Fanconi, head of private banking at the group said that it is a key region for the Swiss private client market.

“The opening of a branch there is therefore the logical consequence of our growth strategy and the expression of appreciation we have for our clients in Basel,” he added.

Earlier this month, Vontobel, appointed Jean-Pierre de Glutz as the new head of its Geneva branch following Cédric Anker’s decision to resign. He joined the private bank at the end of last year through its acquisition of Commerzbank (Schweiz), where he had held various management positions.