Swiss financial market supervisory authority FINMA has approved Safra Group’s acquisition of Rabobank’s majority interest in Bank Sarasin.
The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of July 2012, pending remaining approvals by some international regulatory bodies.
Safra expects the new board of directors of Bank Sarasin & Co to be composed of Dagmar Woehrl, Messrs Pierre-Alain Bracher, Philippe Dupont, Hans-Rudolf Hufschmid, Sergio Penchas, Jacob Safra, Sipko Schat and Marcelo Szerman.
Bank Sarasin CEO Joachim Straehle said that as majority shareholder, Safra will give the firm a strong capital base plus a firm commitment to its growth strategy and foresighted business model.
"This will reinforce our strong position as an independent Swiss private bank and our established Sarasin brand," Straehle said.
In November 2012, Safra had agreed to acquire Rabobank’s controlling stake in Bank Sarasin & Co. for $1.13bn to strengthen private banking in Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.