The private bank is creating a business handling affairs of US residents and citizens, and recruiting its CEO from a rival Swiss house.

Geneva-headquartered Union Bancaire Privée has named the man leading its business that caters for US residents and citizens, part of a trend of firms catering for Americans who have recently struggled to obtain financial services. 

UBP, which previously announced that it was setting up UBP Investment Advisors, a Swiss company registered with the US Securities and Exchange, has appointed Deepak Soni as CEO.) 

Soni has worked with US clients for more than a decade, having been CEO of the Vontobel business that focused on US clients – Vontobel Swiss Wealth Advisors AG. Before this, he held business development responsibilities for acquiring clients in the SEC units at Credit Suisse and UBS.

In his new role, Soni will build the bank’s presence in the US resident market and oversee the expansion of UBP IAS, in particular opening a branch in Zurich.

“The United States is the world's biggest wealth management market today and is therefore a priority market for UBP,” UBP’s private banking CEO Michel Longhini said.

UBP and a number of other banks,such as Royal Bank of Canada, or firms such as London & Capital and Maseco, continue to offer financial services to expat Americans. Expats have struggled in recent years to access services because they are seen as a compliance burden, with their plight becoming more difficult since the Foreign Account Taxation Act, or FATCA, came into force late in 2010.