BSI Singapore's interim CEO Raj Sriram to leave bank

BSI Singapore's Interim CEO Raj Sriram (above) will leave the bank and Renato Cohn, member of BSI's group executive board, will become acting CEO. PHOTO: BSI BANK

SINGAPORE (REUTERS) - Swiss bank BSI said Raj Sriram, the interim CEO of its Singapore unit, would leave the bank and Renato Cohn, member of BSI's group executive board, would become acting CEO.

"Raj will guarantee a smooth handover to Renato in the upcoming weeks and will leave the bank accordingly," BSI said in a statement received by Reuters on Tuesday (April 26). It said Sriram will take a break from his professional career.

BSI was recently sold by Brazil's Grupo BTG Pactual SA to EFG International AG. Sriram's exit follows a March announcement that the head of BSI's Asia business, Hanspeter Brunner, would retire from the bank. Sriram was then given responsibility of the Singapore business.

BSI's Singapore unit has been in the spotlight in recent months because of its links to Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Earlier this month, ex-BSI private banker Yeo Jiawei was charged after a money laundering investigation linked to 1MDB.

Another ex-BSI banker Yak Yew Chee had attempted to sue the Singapore Government to gain access to some of about S$10 million in his bank accounts frozen by the authorities as part of their 1MDB probe.

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