J. Safra Sarasin
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The Bank J. Safra Sarasin AG (previously named "Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd", until 2013) is a Swiss private bank, founded in 1841 and headquartered in Basel. It is currently owned by the Brazilian Safra Group.
Business
J. Safra Sarasin performs investment advice and asset management for private and institutional clients, as well as investment funds, with an emphasis on sustainable funds and Environmental, social and corporate governance. It offers further services in investment, corporate finance and financial analysis.
In 2014, the J. Safra Sarasin Group employed the equivalent of 1981 full-time positions, managed 147.4 billion Swiss francs in assets, and was list on the SIX Swiss Exchange from 1987 to 2013.
In addition to its headquarters in Basel, the J. Safra Sarasin Group has offices in Bern, Geneva, Lugano, Lucerne, Zurich, Doha, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hamburg, Hanover, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Monaco, Munich, Nassau, Panama, Poznan, Singapore, Stuttgart and Warsaw.
History
J. Safra Sarasin was founded on 20 February 1841, after Johannes Riggenbach-Huber, son of a worker of a tape factory from Basel, had risen to partner within the bank Ehinger. The company was originally devoted to trade, shipping and banking. After two years, his son Frederick Riggenbach joined the business, which he directed after Johannes Riggenbach's death in 1860. By 1876, the bank had thrived and entered trading at the Basel Stock Exchange.
On 1 January 1900, Alfred Sarasin-Iselin purchased the company from Fritz Riggenbach and founded the general partnership A. Sarasin & Cie with Arthur Streichenberg-Mylius, giving the establishment its name of Sarasin. Under this leadership, Bank Sarasin developed into one of the most prestigious and longest-established private banks in the Swiss financial market.
From 1954 to 2007, Emanuel Sarasin, grandson of Alfred Sarasin-Iselin, directed the bank. He was also president of the Swiss Bankers Association from 1965 to 1986. In 1987, the company became a Private company limited by shares, under the name Bank Sarasin & Cie. In 2002, it converted into a Joint-stock company, with the Dutch group Rabo taking a share and options to purchase more; it exercised these options in late 2006, by then holding 46.1 percents of the capital and 68.6 of the votes. Rabobank was itself purchased by Safra on 25 November 2011.
On 3 January 2012, Sarasin announced that customer data had been illegally passed to third parties by one of its employees, notably affecting the family of Philipp Hildebrand, then President of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank. Dismissed by the bank, the employee, who had worked in its IT department, surrendered himself to the police. Sarasin filed a further criminal complaint against a third party. The leaked documents would play a key role in the Hildebrand Affair and his own eventual dismissal.
By late June 2012, Safra Holding already held 50.15% of the share capital and 71.01% of the votes; in October 2012, Safra had acquired further shares through a public offer, and had 99.47% of the votes. Safra then cancelled the remaining shares held by the public in April 2013, delisting the bank from the SIX Swiss Exchange. As part of the merger between Bank Sarasin and Bank J. Safra (Switzerland) into Bank J. Safra Sarasin AG, the bank announced on 27 May 2013 that Edmond Michaan, former managing director of Bank J. Safra, would replace Joachim H. Straehle as CEO of Sarasin.