With pressures on margins remaining tight, private banks remain keen to make acquisitions that can build scale. UBP serves clients in a number of regions.

EFG International said yesterday that it was buying all of Swiss private bank Quilvest (Switzerland) Ltd, which has a footprint in Latin America and focuses on serving UHNW clients.

Zurich-listed EFG said it expects the transaction – the purchase price wasn’t disclosed – to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval. Quilvest Switzerland, which was founded in 1932 by the Argentinian Bemberg family, is fully owned by Bemberg Capital, a Luxemburg-based holding of the family.

EFG has made several acquisitions in the past 12 months. For example, it bought Swiss private bank Cité Gestion, a firm with about SFr7.5 billion ($9.66 billion) in assets. Later in 2025, EFG’s fully-owned subsidiary of Switzerland's EFG International acquired a New Zealand-based wealth management business. (The subsidiary is Shaw and Partners Financial Services.) It bought a 75 per cent stake in New Zealand-based Investment Services Group (ISG).

The transaction is an example of the kind of merger and acquisition activity that has been happening in the Swiss and wider European private banking and wealth management field. Margins remain tight, while cost pressures continue – encouraging consolidation. According to the Swiss Bankers Association's annual “barometer” for the sector – the latest was issued last year – banks in Switzerland achieved “modest results” overall in 2024. Aggregate net income fell 3.5 per cent year-on-year at SFr69.8 billion, with the result from interest operations falling the most sharply. Annual profit for the sector as a whole thus fell by 31.7 per cent to SFr17.7  billion; low interest rates depressed earnings, the SBA said.

Cash deal
In the latest deal, EFG said it will buy all Quilvest Switzerland shares in cash; it expects the acquisition to reduce its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio by a maximum of about 70 basis points. Quilvest Switzerland will be integrated into EFG Bank, EFG said in a statement.

Quilvest Switzerland, which is headquartered in Zurich, is present in Montevideo, Uruguay. 

The acquired bank has about SFr5.3 billion of client assets, of which SFr3.9 billion are assets under management and SFr1.4 billion in custodian assets. Its business concentrates on serving UHNW individuals domiciled in Latin America and Western Europe including Switzerland and the Middle East. Ultra-HNW and high net worth clients make up more than 90 per cent of total AuM.