The Swiss group has completed its purchase of a banking group serving the Alpine state and Luxembourg and has also obtained a presence in Israel.

J Safra Sarasin Group, the Swiss private banking organisation, has completed its purchase of Bank Hapoalim’s private bank operations in Switzerland and Luxembourg, and restablished a physical base in Israel. The transaction has been one of several recent M&A deals in European private banking.

The business purchases includes transferring qualifying clients and their relationship managers who are focused primarily on clients from Europe and Israel.

“We are excited to return to Israel, a market we are very familiar with given previous investments by the group,” Jacob Safra, chairman of Safra Holdings International and vice chairman of J Safra Sarasin Group, said.

Among recent developments, the group said it has successfully integrated private banking teams from Credit Suisse in Gibraltar and Monaco. 

To see the initial announcement about the Hapoalim transaction agreement, see here.

The Sarasin Group, which is based in Switzerland, was bought by the Brazilian Safra family in 2013. That deal, and the kind of deals completed this week, are part of a consolidation of the Swiss private banking and wealth sector.