The merger between Banca Unione di Credito and Lugano-based BSI has now been concluded. On 1 January 2007, BSI took over responsibility for all the legal relationships entered into by BUC, which ceases to exist. BUC, which has operated in Switzerland since 1919, has been merged into BSI, the oldest bank in the canton of Ticino, established in 1873. The deal cements BSI’s presence in Ticino and Switzerland’s other major financial centres- Zurich and Geneva and helps fulfill the mission given to BSI its parent company, the Generali Group, to expand in the asset management sector. Last year BSI, reported a 16.2 per cent rise in private client assets under management in 2005 to SFr41 billion ($33.2 billion).