Julius Baer has announced today that the transfer of Merrill Lynch’s International Wealth Management (IWM) business based in Panama has started yesterday. With this step Julius Baer will enhance its existing presence in this important market, enabling the Bank to capitalise on the growth momentum in Panama and other Latin American countries.

Julius Baer acquires a well-established business. Merrill Lynch has run wealth management activities in Panama for 40 years and has built a solid team of long-serving financial advisors and support staff, catering to a sophisticated local and international client base. The employees and client relationships of the Panama business were transferred on 6 November 2013. The client assets will be transferred in a staggered manner, expected to be completed by mid-2014.

Julius Baer’s business in Panama will operate as a broker-dealer and be regulated by the Superintendency of the Securities Markets of the Republic of Panama. The licence was granted to Julius Baer in August 2013 and was activated on 6 November 2013.

Gustavo Raitzin, Member of the Executive Board of Julius Baer and Head Latin America and Israel, said: “I very much look forward to welcoming the new colleagues and clients. Enhancing our position in this strategically well-located and fast-growing market is an important step for us and will enable us to further build our business in the country and across the entire Latin American region.”

The Panama business of Julius Baer will be headed by Eduardo Nogueira who is a long-standing private banking professional and joined Julius Baer in February 2013. Prior to this he was a partner at an independent asset management firm in Miami and before 2011 he spent 26 years at Merrill Lynch, holding different managerial positions in several locations in Latin America. He said: “I am very pleased to reunite with the Merrill Lynch team and take over this role at Julius Baer. Thanks to the Bank’s reputation as a leading pure private banking player with global reach, I am sure both clients and employees will benefit enormously from the unique investment knowledge and independent advice the combined businesses will provide.”

The new Julius Baer office will operate from the Torres de las Américas building in Panama City. In Latin America, Julius Baer also has offices in Chile (Santiago de Chile), Peru (Lima), Uruguay (Montevideo) and a partnership with GPS in Brazil.

Overall transition proceeding according to plan

So far the IWM businesses located in Switzerland, Uruguay, Chile, Luxembourg, Monaco, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Spain and Israel have started the transfer process and are moving ahead as planned. The next businesses to transfer, expected to occur before the end of the year, are in Bahrain, Lebanon and the UAE. Preparations for these transfers are well under way.

Merrill Lynch’s International Wealth Management business is an excellent strategic fit for Julius Baer, strengthening the Group’s presence in key growth markets around the globe and significantly enlarging its asset base. The integration phase which was launched in February 2013 is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015, with the large majority of the assets under management planned to be transferred in 2013.