The head of private banking Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa for Clariden Leu,, Roland Knecht, has resigned from the post for personal reasons, the Swiss private bank has told WealthBriefing. A spokesman for Clariden said he was unable to give further details about whether Mr Knecht, who was also a member of the bank’s executive board, was planning to work for another company. A source familiar with the matter told WealthBriefing that Knecht had resigned. Mr Knecht has been with Clariden for 23 years, joining in 1985 when he set up the bank's representative office in Singapore. Previously, he worked in Switzerland and abroad in various private banking positions at Merrill Lynch, Chase Manhattan, UBS and Citibank. He was appointed as member of the executive board of management at Clariden in 2000 with responsibility for the markets Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was also responsible for Clariden Bank's offices in London and Monaco.