Zurich — Julius Baer Group is shutting down its Panama and Peru operations as part of the Swiss private bank’s strategic review of its Latin American business. The bank is seeking to keep client relationships in those countries while bankers and support staff are relocated to the Bahamas, Chile or Switzerland, a Baer spokeswoman said. The move will affect six relationship managers and support staff, and completes the review by Beatriz Sanchez, who now heads the bank’s Latin American unit. Sanchez’s move comes only two months after a former Baer employee pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to launder about $1.2bn bilked from Petroleos de Venezuela. That prompted an internal investigation at Julius Baer, but has not led to charges against the bank. A number of Baer’s senior bankers in the region have also left, mostly related to the strategic overhaul, two people familiar with the matter said. Sanchez has been reviewing Julius Baer’s Panama operations as part of a wider examin...
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