2023-12-20 19:58:02
Zurich (awp) – Moody’s has lowered the long-term issuer rating of Bank Julius Bär by one notch after the Zurich institute reported high credits granted to the bankrupt Signa group. The rating was reduced to “A3” from “A2” and the outlook was lowered to “negative” from “stable”, the agency said Wednesday evening.
The rating for priority unsecured commitments and investments was reduced to “A1” from “Aa3”, Moody’s further indicated. The rating of the Julius Bär group remains at “Baa1” with however an outlook lowered to “negative”.
Moody’s explains the downgrade by a higher than expected risk appetite and a concentration of risks in the credit accounts of the wealth management bank. At the end of November, Julius Bär announced that he had granted credits of 606 million Swiss francs to “a European conglomerate”. According to insiders, this debtor is none other than the Signa group of Austrian investor René Benko.
The case is part of a series of various problems in the past, according to Moody’s which recalls that Finma had deplored deficits in governance in the detection and prevention of money laundering. According to Moody’s experts, these problems have since been resolved. Recent value adjustments signal new, unforeseen risks.
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