The organisational structure of VP Bank Group

VP Bank Group consists of four organisational units: “Chief Executive Officer”, “Client Business” and “Chief Financial Officer & Banking Services” and “Chief Operating Officer”. 

Effective as of 1 January 2016, the new organisational unit “Chief Operating Officer” was established. Martin C. Beinhoff was named Chief Operating Officer and head of this unit.

Also on 1 January 2016, the Group Finance & Risk operating unit was divided into two discrete units: Group Finance, and Group Risk. Hanspeter Kaspar remains in charge of the former, and Marcel Beutler was newly appointed as Head of Group Risk on that date.

The former Head of Group Treasury, Patrick D. Businger, left VP Bank in January 2016. The unit was supervised temporarily by COO Martin C. Beinhoff until 1 March 2016, when Claus Hug assumed the post of Head of Group Treasury & Execution. 

Antoine Baronnet, Head of Client Business and Executive Board member at VP Bank (Luxembourg) SA, left VP Bank on 27 April 2016. His function is being performed on an interim basis by Thomas Steiger, CEO of VP Bank (Luxembourg) SA. 

Following the effort spearheaded by Martin C. Beinhoff to conduct a comprehensive examination of the fundamental metrics Group Executive Management relies on when determining its lending policy and credit strategy, the GEM decided to separate the Front- and Mid-/Backoffice activities of the Group Credit unit. In this connection, the Mid- and Backoffice departments were shifted to the Chief Operating Officer unit. The Commercial Banking Domestic department was kept in the Client Business Liechtenstein segment until 30 April 2016. In order to augment the important Intermediaries business with a wider array of offerings and make it a one-stop source of advisory services, the Commercial Banking department was then integrated into the Intermediaries operating unit on 1 June 2016. The Group Credit unit was streamlined as of 1 May 2016 by combining the Credit Risk Management and Commercial Banking International departments to create the Credit Risk department headed by Michael Curschellas. Michael Curschellas was then appointed Head of Group Credit on 1 September 2016.

Upon the merger with Centrum Bank AG in 2015, the Intermediaries II unit of that bank was integrated into VP Bank’s existing Intermediaries organisation. In a second step completed on 1 June 2016, the respective VP Bank and Centrum Bank teams were combined to realise the intended segment-specific organisational structure. 

In effort to reinforce VP Bank’s client business and generate added revenues by means of new services, Hendrik Breitenstein – the Head of Group Investment, Product & Market Management – built up a Group-wide Active Advisory Desk. Since 1 May 2016, Stefan Schwitter has been responsible for the Group Investment, Product & Market Management unit.

On 1 May 2016, Anne Guidi was named member of the Executive Board of VP Fund Solutions (Luxembourg) SA and is mainly in charge of risk and compliance at that firm. Its Executive Board now comprises three members: Eduard von Kymmel, Ralf Funk and Anne Guidi.

On 2 November 2015, Antony Lassanianos took over as interim Chief Executive Officer of VP Bank (Switzerland) Ltd and was definitively appointed CEO of this Zurich-based subsidiary, effective as of 1 June 2016. On the same date, Stephan Wernli, formerly Head of Legal, Compliance & Tax, was named to the Executive Board of VP Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. As a result, the subsidiary’s Executive Board once again consists of three members: Antony Lassanianos, Thomas Westh Olsen and Stephan Wernli.

Alex Boss, CEO of VP Fund Solutions (Liechtenstein) AG, decided to leave that company in October 2016. His successor, Ralf Konrad, assumed that post as of 1 December 2016. Going forward, the Executive Board of VP Fund Solutions (Liechtenstein) AG will comprise two members: Ralf Konrad as CEO, and Reto Grässli as Chief Operating Officer.

In conjunction with the implementation process for VP Bank Group’s Strategy 2020, the function of General Counsel will be combined with that of the Chief Risk Officer. The investment competency of the Bank will also be reinforced in a targeted manner. This reorientation and the greater emphasis placed on these areas of activity are reflected in VP Bank Group’s adapted organisational and management structure, which took effect as of 1 January 2017. 

Monika Vicandi, General Counsel and Head of Group Legal, Compliance & Tax, will now oversee the “General Counsel & Chief Risk Officer” organisational unit at the Group Executive Committee level. The future head of “Investment Solutions”, whose recruitment is currently under way, will also become a member of Group Executive Management. As of 1 January 2017, the Investment Solutions organisational unit now includes the Group Investment, Product & Market Management and VP Fund Solutions operating units, which were previously part of the Client Business organisational unit.

Katharina Vogt-Schädler, Chief Executive Officer of VP Bank (BVI) Ltd, has opted not to prolong her secondment to the British Virgin Islands. As of 1 February 2017, Nicholas A. Clark will take over as Chief Executive Officer of VP Bank (BVI) Ltd. At that point, the Executive Board of VP Bank (BVI) will comprise Nicholas A. Clark (CEO) and Sjoerd Koster as General Manager for Client Business. 

Rajagopal Govindarajoo, Managing Director of VP Bank (Singapore) Ltd, decided in September 2016 to step down from his operative function. On 13 March 2017, Bruno Morel will take over as Chief Executive Officer of VP Bank (Singapore) Ltd.