Geneva-Headquartered Private Bank Opens London Branch

Tom Burroughes

8 March 2017

in deepening a footprint in the capital.

The UK branch will house lines of business including asset management, brokerage and corporate finance, Mirabaud, which is headquartered in Geneva, said in a statement today.

The operation will be led by Harry Thorburn, reporting to Etienne d’Arenberg. The move “strengthens Mirabaud’s 27-year presence in the UK market and extends the offering of the group’s Luxembourg-registered European bank which already has established offices in France and Spain," the statement said.

As a branch of the Luxembourg bank, it is authorised by the “Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier” and subject to limited regulation in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority, it said.

The move comes at a time when such Swiss private banks, mindful of the need to maintain market access when traditional Swiss bank secrecy laws are on the way out, have been expanding their onshore presence outside the Alpine state. Mirabaud, along with Pictet and Lombard Odier, also shed their long-standing unlimited liability structure in 2013, arguing their growing size meant such a governance set-up was no longer suitable. In October last year, Pictet announced that after winning regulatory approval, its London banking branch is able to offer booking centre services. Lombard Odier has a FCA/PRA-authorised office in London.

Brexit? No worries
The bank said it thinks that, despite the UK’s vote last June to quit the European Union, London is and will continue to be an important financial centre, both for wealth management and for asset management and brokerage & corporate finance.

“The opening of the new branch is a natural extension of our presence within the UK market and reflects the continued prominence of London as a highly influential financial centre,” Yves Mirabaud, senior managing partner at Mirabaud, said.

“We believe our decision to further strengthen our presence here will be of significant benefit to our established wealth management client base, allowing us to provide greater accessibility and even more comprehensive solutions to meet their investment needs in what remains a difficult economic climate,” he said.

Founded in 1819, the bank has 700 employees with offices in Geneva, Basel and Zurich; London, Luxembourg, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla and Milan and Montreal, Hong Kong and Dubai.