RBC Suisse, which is headquartered in Geneva and had around SFr10 billion ($10.51 billion) of assets under management as at 31 October 2014, serves clients with a particular focus on emerging markets, including those from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“The decision to sell RBC Suisse fits with our stated long-term growth strategy to build a focused global wealth management business that serves high net worth and ultra high net worth clients in priority markets from our hubs in North America, the British Isles and Asia,” George Lewis, group head, RBC Wealth Management and Insurance, said in a statement.

SYZ is also based in Geneva and it said that as a result of the transaction, it will manage almost SFr40 billion of assets, enabling it to expand its international footprint.

The move by SYZ to take on the RBC assets comes after it had been speculated earlier this year that SYZ might have been one of the buyers of the Coutts International business in Switzerland, although of course that firm was eventually bought by another Geneva-headquartered bank, Union Bancaire Privee. The latest move is a further sign of merger and acquisition activity affecting Swiss private banking. For some time, it has been predicted that there will be consolidation in the Alpine state’s bankng sector, which had 283 banking institutions at the time of writing (source: Swiss Bankers’ Association).

RBC has also been consolidating its international presence; it has exited certain private banking businesses in the Caribbean and Latin America, and announced last year it was reviewing its Swiss operations.

The $10.51 billion in AuM that RBC’s Swiss business oversaw compares with a total RBC Wealth Management AuM of C$481 billion ($376.2 billion), according to the latest published figures.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of calendar year 2015.