Cologne-based private bank Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie is planning to further expand its business activities in northern Germany. The bank plans to place more emphasis on targeting family business owners, as well as institutional clients in the northern German states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Bremen and Hamburg, according to a statement. At the same time, Stefan Paul, who has headed up the Hamburg branch office since it opened in 1999, is handing over to Martin von Hirschhausen. As part of the repositioning and expansion of the bank’s business activities, the Hamburg branch will be renamed the “northern German branch”. Mr von Hirschhausen joins from Vereinsund Westbank, where he built up the SME corporate client business for the Hamburg-based bank. Mr Paul will continue to work as a representative of the bank.