Arbuthnot Latham, the UK private bank that announced a 27 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for 2007, is on track to set up a Swiss banking operation this year to broaden its client case, benefiting from an expected exodus of UK non-domiciled residents to the Alpine state, its chief executive told WealthBriefing. The London-based bank has been working on plans to establish a banking operation in Switzerland for over a year and has applied for a Swiss banking licence from national regulators. Last year, it appointed Hans-Rudolf Strasser as chief executive of the Swiss operation. A full-service bank should be ready to start in Switzerland later this year, chief executive Mike Bussey said. “We intend to open a Swiss operation fairly shortly and are securing a location, and we are well advanced towards opening a full-service bank and investment business in Zurich,” Mr Bussey said, following Arbuthnot Latham’s results announcement on Thursday. “The purpose of that initiative is to build a more international client base for the bank,” Mr Bussey said, pointing out that the original decision to enter the Swiss market happened several months before the UK government first announced its tax levy proposals on non-doms living in the UK. A number of wealth advisors and commentators have warned that the UK Government’s proposals last autumn, confirmed in this week's annual UK budget, would drive non-doms to Switzerland, among other international financial centres. “Of course, the whole non-dom issue happened quite recently but for us the timing of this is great,” Mr Bussey told WealthBriefing. The bank, which booked a rise in total private banking assets of 8 per cent to £309.2 million in 2007, is looking to expand further, building on existing relationships, for example, with networks of independent financial advisors, Mr Bussey said, although he did not elaborate on specific ventures that Arbuthnot Latham may be looking at to distribute its products. At present, the bank focuses on clients with investable assets between £500,000 and £10 million but in time could raise the bar to include ultra-high net worth individuals over the £10 million mark if the bank continues to expand, he said. “As the business develops, it will certainly open [doors] to very high net worth clients,” Mr Bussey added. Elsewhere, Mr Bussey said the core banking business of Arbuthnot Latham was strong, with a £300 million balance sheet based on client deposits and no reliance on funding from the wholesale market, shielding the bank from the spike in funding costs that have hit some banks due to the credit crunch. He continued to expect strong growth at the bank's regional UK centres, such as Exeter and Manchester.