Julius Baer takes over Merrill Lynch’s regional wealth business

Dubai: Switzerland-based wealth manager bank Julius Baer took over the international wealth management business of Merrill Lynch in the UAE, Lebanon and Bahrain based on a agreement between the companies signed last year.

Through this step, Julius Baer will gain new footholds in Beirut and Manama and strengthen its existing presence in Dubai, thus further enhancing its overall position in the important Middle Eastern wealth management market.

Merrill Lynch has run private banking activities for more than 50 years in Lebanon and for more than 35 years in Bahrain. In Dubai, two offices of Merrill Lynch transitioned over to Julius Baer’s existing business, one based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and one based in the domestic Dubai market, Julius Baer said in a statement.

The employees, client relationships and the majority of the assets of the Middle Eastern businesses transferred in the first days of December 2013. The process is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014.

Gaining new footholds in the Middle Eastern markets of Lebanon and Bahrain and strengthening our existing Dubai presence is an important step for us and will enable us to further expand our footprint in this key growth region,” said Rémy A. Bersier, Member of the Executive Board of Julius Baer and Head Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Julius Baer agreed to buy the non-US wealth businesses from Bank of America Corp. last year. So far the businesses located in Switzerland, Uruguay, Chile, Luxembourg, Monaco, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Spain and Panama have started the transfer process.

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.

In the Middle East, Julius Baer now has offices in Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo, Dubai, Istanbul and Manama.