We are the only Swiss bank with a banking and securities license in this country, which has become a very important commercial and corporate hub for the Americas in the last 15 years. With our license in Panama we can also advise clients with a preference to custody with us in Switzerland. We are strictly applying the same client onboarding and compliance rules in both countries.
You're also looking at Colombia...
As proof of our interest in Latin America, we recently applied for a representative office license in Colombia. And we are following Argentina closely to eventually apply for an advisory license. Alasia, our independent wealth management company, is also active with customers from the southern cone of Latin America.
PKB was sanctioned in its Latin American business. What precautions have you taken to prevent such cases in the future?
Swiss banks have been experiencing a constant evolution over the last decade and PKB is fully part of it. Many changes implemented by the bank were already foreseen even before the affair and before the intervention of Finma.
«The Finma sanction accelerated changes»
Obviously, the event accelerated the implementation of some of them. Overall, during the last recent years, the bank has launched an important process of change both at a strategic and organizational level.
Specifically, what are you doing?
In particular, at a strategic level, PKB has redefined its risk appetite by reviewing the selection of markets on which to focus its service offering and consequently made an assessment of all its client’s profiles. In addition, the bank experienced important organizational changes by reinforcing its executive board and all the independent control functions. Finally, the bank substantially strengthened its internal control system and deeply reviewed and updated its internal regulatory framework.
Is Finma still overseeing the bank?
Finma has recognized that the bank was cooperative during the proceedings and that it quickly took steps to address noted deficiencies. Then Finma has appointed an independent auditor to assess adequacy in relation to the implementation of these measures. This independent review is now entering into its final phase, thus in line with the defined deadline.
«Finma just approved our management handover for next year»
Results of already completed follow-up verifications of the independent auditor have confirmed that the bank has adequately implemented planned measures. Finally, a few days ago, Finma approved my change of role planned for next year, from CEO of the bank currently to chairman of the board of PKB, thus to our entire satisfaction.
Luca Venturini is a specialist for Italy – a country in considerable political turmoil. How has this influenced flows from Italian customers to PKB?
Let’s keep in mind that for Italians, Switzerland is still the most important booking center to diversify their assets out of their country. Some time ago, we have seen a certain interest from Italian customers to consider transferring abroad a portion of their assets, or increasing the portion that they already had.
