J. SAFRA SARASIN PULLS THE PLUG IN GERMANY

J. Safra Sarasin is winding up its business in Germany, according to information obtained by finews.ch. The decision to close shop in Europe's biggest economy shows how tough that market is for Swiss banking.

Bank Sarasin and later J. Safra Sarasin spent the best of a decade trying to establish the private bank in Germany, Europe's biggest private-banking market. Until now.

The company, based in Brazil and Switzerland, is pulling out of Germany, according to two reliable sources, who both confirmed that the bank will close down the German business in 2017. The bank has a little more than 80 people in Germany, according to the annual report of 2015.

J. Safra Sarasin didn't want to comment the report yesterday. The future strategy for J. Safra Sarasin remains in the dark. The bank didn't comment at all when confronted by finews.ch. Potentially, the bank may serve the very rich clients from Switzerland, in line with what CS is doing.

Closing down the business in Germany implies shuttering five branches: the headquarters in Frankfurt and offices in Hamburg, Hannover, Munich and Stuttgart. A blow for the bank, which only a year ago confirmed Germany as a core market.

Still, the bank has had a tough ride north of the Swiss borders in recent years. It was engulfed in the «cum-ex» scandal, involving a product that Sarasin had pushed with some vigor.