MANAMA — Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd, a leading Swiss private bank with a strategic presence in the region through the DIFC-domiciled Bank Sarasin Alpen (ME) Ltd, is to open a new subsidiary in Bahrain and has signed a joint venture agreement with the El-Khereiji Group, a major Middle East conglomerate.
The new subsidiary will be called Bank Sarasin (Bahrain) and cater for family offices, entrepreneurs and institutional clients, Sarasin said in a statement yesterday.
The bank has appointed Christian Maurer to be chief executive of the new subsidiary. He has held various senior roles within Sarasin’s private banking business with a focus on the Middle East.
Bank Sarasin expects to achieve a double-digit growth rate in the GCC in 2007, building further on the extraordinary growth the bank’s Middle East subsidiary has witnessed since its inception in the region 18 months ago.
Joachim H. Straehle, CEO and chairman of the executive committee of Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd, who is currently on a visit to Dubai to appraise the bank’s Middle East subsidiary’s performance and meet some of the private bank’s ultra high net worth clients in the region to further bolster the bank’s presence, expressed optimism in the bank’s regional operations, reinforcing the bank’s focus on regional economies.
“The Middle East is one of the fastest growing markets for the bank,” he said.
“This is Straehle’s second visit to the UAE in three months, testimony to the importance that the bank accords to the region,” said Rohit Walia, Bank Sarasin Alpen (ME) Limited’s managing director and CEO.
“The bank has clocked a remarkable growth rate in the region since its establishment, especially after we moved our base to the DIFC, which has proved to be the perfect springboard from which to launch our operations throughout the GCC,” Walia added.
Straehle will be in Dubai for three days and will be meeting the bank’s clients from all across the region. Apart from the UAE, the bank has been active in the region, and has plans for expanding into Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and India before the end of this year.
The CEO’s visit comes just a few days after the announcement of Rabobank, the world’s only AAA-rated private bank, exercising its option to acquire all outstanding Sarasin class A shares held by Eichbaum Holding Ltd. Rabobank has thus become the majority shareholder of Sarasin with a 46 percent stake in its equity capital and 69 percent of its voting rights.