Coutts Int’l chief quits following sale to Union Bancaire Privee

Coutts International’s chief executive Alexander Classen has left the private bank following its sale in March.

Coutts Int’l chief quits following sale to Union Bancaire Privee

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Coutts International’s chief executive Alexander Classen has left the private bank following its sale in March.

He will be replaced by Michael Blake, who is currently the unit’s general manager in Asia. Blake will relocate from Singapore to Zurich for the role, where he will report to Donald Workman, executive chairman, private banking.

Classen’s departure comes after the Royal Bank of Scotland announced its agreement to sell the company, its overseas private banking arm, to Geneva-based private bank Union Bancaire Privee in March.

The sale includes business managed from Switzerland, Monaco, UAE, Qatar, Singapore and Hong Kong and comprises client relationships predominantly managed outside the British Isles and associated staff.

The transaction is expected to be completed in Europe and the Middle East before the end of the year, and in Singapore and Hong Kong by early 2016, where the business will then adopt its new owner.

A statement from the company said: “We confirm that Alexander Classen has decided to leave the organisation.

“We anticipate no interruption in the integration process with UBP which is progressing well and on schedule.”

Classen was appointed as head of wealth international and as a member of the wealth division’s executive committee on May 2011.

He joined from Morgan Stanley International, where he was head of private wealth management for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He has also held positions at Goldman Sachs and Pictet.

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