BEKB Bank CEO to exit
Hanspeter Rüfenacht, CEO of Swiss cantonal bank BEKB, will hand over the operational management on a retirement basis as planned on 30 June 2019. The bank announced in a statement alongside its half yearly result of 2018.
Rüfenacht joined the bank on 1 November 1999 as head of Credit Management, and was appointed to the executive board in 2002, which he has been managing since 1 January 2012. Under his guidance, the bank trimmed the business as a whole, cut its costs and reduced the number of staff.
BEKB bank continued to grow in first half of 2018. Mortgage loans increased by CHF501.1m or 2.4% to CHF21.2bn. Overall, loans to customers increased by CHF533.7m to CHF22.9bn. The low level of interest rates with negative interest rates continued to characterise the development of transaction monies in the first half of 2018.
Client deposits in the narrower sense (obligations from customer deposits and medium-term notes) therefore fell by CHF187.7m to CHF21.9bn. The assets under custody (deposit volume) amounted to CHF18.2bn (previous year CHF18.5bn).
For assets under management, a net new money inflow of CHF86.7m was offset by a negative market impact of CHF368.0m. The share of BEKB funds grew by CHF269.5m to CHF2.4bn. The holdings of BEKB funds rose by CHF269.5m to CHF2.4bn. Total assets grew by CHF1.0bn to CHF30.3bn. The half-year profit increased by 2.0% to CHF58.0m (previous year: CHF56.9m).
