One of the top bankers at Julius Baer, Bernard Keller, who helped drive integration of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management business in Switzerland, is retiring from its board at the end of this year.

One of the top bankers at Julius Baer, Bernard Keller, who helped drive integration of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management business in Switzerland, is retiring from its board at the end of this year, the private bank said today.

Keller has been at Julius Baer for more than 20 years. A successor will be named in due course, the Zurich-listed group said in a statement.

He was the chief executive of BDL Banco di Lugano, one of the three private banks taken over by Julius Baer in 2005. As a board member of Julius Baer, he was subsequently responsible for the private banking business in the strategic markets of Southern Switzerland and Italy. The firm said he was later the “driving force” behind the strategic initiative to combine Julius Baer’s regionally managed Swiss private client business into a new, single market region of Switzerland.

Keller was recently responsible for the integration of the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management business in Switzerland, it said. He joined the firm’s executive board on 1 January 2010 as private banking representative.