Swissfirst, is selling its Basel-based private banking unit to Adler & Co Privatbank AG, a subsidiary of Luzerner Kantonalbank, for an undis...

Swissfirst, is selling its Basel-based private banking unit to Adler & Co Privatbank AG, a subsidiary of Luzerner Kantonalbank, for an undisclosed sum. Swissfirst mandated Credit Suisse to seek potential buyers following the damage caused to its business by growing suspicion of insider trading. This was sparked by pension funds selling stock immediately before last year’s merger of Swissfirst and Bellevue banks thereby depriving the funds of substantial gains. Investigations by various Swiss authorities are ongoing. Private banking represents the smallest part of Swissfirst's activities. Its main businesses are brokerage and asset management for institutional clients such as Swiss pension funds. In September Swissfirst appointed Walter Knabenhans, who until last January was chief executive of Julius Baer, as its chairman. The appointment was seen as an attempt to distance Swissfirst from the allegations of insider trading. Mr Knabenhans spent much of his career at Credit Suisse, before becoming Baer's chief executive in 2001. Private clients presently account for SFr4 billion ($3.2 billion) of the bank's SFr11 billion in assets under management. Withdrawals have been limited to SFr15 million since the insider trading scandal emerged.