1MDB tainted Falcon Private Bank moved to stanch the exodus in its C-Suite. Most notably, the Swiss bank's Abu Dhabi owner is dispatching a top executive to Zurich as an operational overseer.
Zurich-based Falcon moved to fill several key vacancies in top management, hiring new finance and operating chiefs to join later this year, it said in a statement. The Abu Dhabi-owned Swiss private bank said Alastair Fiddes (pictured below) will join as operating chief, and chief Matteo Maccio as finance head.
Falcon is seeking to reinvent itself after the 1MDB scandal which wiped out its Singapore branch. High-level exits including that of private banking head Erich Pfister, finance chief Urs Zgraggen, tech boss Mathias Studach, and trading head Ivo Sauter represent setbacks to CEO Martin Keller's strategy of shifting into a crypto bank, as finews.asia reported exclusively.
Abu Dhabi Dispatch
Falcon hasn't had an operating chief since Tobias Unger left shortly after the 1MDB scandal surfaced two years ago. The appointment of Fiddes, who has worked for Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund since 2009, can be seen as an assertion of oversight from the private bank's owners. Abu Dhabi, which pumped money into Falcon last year, has also entertained interest from a potential buyer, as finews.asia reported exclusively last month.
Maccio is being poached from Banque Cramer, where he was risk boss for the past three years. The Swiss bank's top management will now be comprised of CEO Keller, risk boss Bruno Meyer, Maccio as finance chief from December, and Fiddes as operating chief from August.
«These nominations are instrumental in laying a new foundation for our future development and growth. I am convinced that our new colleagues will make valuable contributions on our way forward», CEO Keller said in a statement.
