Bipielle Bank (Suisse), the Lugano private banking subsidiary of Banca Popolare Italiana, currently under investigation for alleged fraud in...

Bipielle Bank (Suisse), the Lugano private banking subsidiary of Banca Popolare Italiana, currently under investigation for alleged fraud in Italy, is to be investigated by Italian bank regulators, according to local press reports. An Associated Press report said the Swiss authorities will allow Italian authorities to carry out an onsite inspection in Switzerland in connection with the alleged fraud at BPI. There have been earlier reports that senior staff at Bipielle Bank have been questioned by Swiss authorities, although this has yet to be substantiated. Bipielle Bank is the Swiss banking subsidiary of BPI. It is one of the most profitable private banks in Lugano with its gross profit rising 58 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2005 to $7.2 million. Formerly known as Bank Adamas, the bank had 54 employees and client assets of SFr2.4 billion as of end-December 2004.