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All the while, CEO Keller tried to differentiate Falcon from the raft of near-identical Swiss wealth managers. Falcon reinforced its crypto offering in January, allowing clients to transfer cryptocurrencies to and from wallets held directly at the bank and convert their crypto holdings into fiat. Keller wants to hire as many as 20 new private bankers this year.

More Cuts Must Follow

The cost structure however still remains to be solved. Avaloq is too expensive for its purposes. The 1MDB scandal also left the bank with no choice but to reinforce its compliance – as Finma retracted restrictions, Falcon may have room to cut its costs.

Will it be enough? Keller has to succeed with what has become the pièce-de-résistance of banking – cutting costs and boosting growth at the same time. More losses would hit its reserves which have already dropped to 67 million francs in 2018 from 110 million a year earlier. The sheikhs may not remain happy to inject fresh capital forever.