Julius Bär loses its Chairman of the Board: Romeo Lacher will not stand for re-election at the upcoming General Meeting in April.

The resignation occurs amidst a comprehensive leadership change at Julius Baer, triggered by the collapse of the Austrian real estate group Signa. Last year, the bank had to write off its entire claim against Signa amounting to 606 million francs and subsequently decided to discontinue its private lending business.

The Signa Group of Austrian entrepreneur René Benko ran into financial difficulties in 2023 due to rising interest rates. Assets of the indebted company included, among others, the London luxury department store Selfridges and the Berlin traditional store KaDeWe. Last week, Benko was arrested by Austrian authorities for allegedly misleading statements during bankruptcy proceedings.

The personnel changes at Julius Baer continue: Recently, former Goldman Sachs manager Stefan Bollinger assumed the position of CEO, after his predecessor Philipp Rickenbacher left the company in February 2024 after five years.

A successor for Lacher is to be nominated in March. The Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, Richard Campbell-Breeden, stated that under Lacher's leadership, the committee has responded decisively to challenges and selected Bollinger as the new CEO to lead the group into a stable future.

Lacher himself emphasized that Bollinger's appointment as CEO marked the right time for a leadership change at the board level.

The publication of Julius Bär's annual results is scheduled for February 3.