NEWS: Luxembourg’s Banque Havilland to shut its operations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein

By Paul O’Donoghue

BANQUE Havilland, a well-known private bank from Luxembourg, is closing its operations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein following news that the European Central Bank will revoke a key banking licence.

The firm will start a voluntary liquidation of the two units, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News.

The publication said the decision is not the result of any issues with the bank’s solvency or liquidity.

Liechtenstein’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) said Banque Havilland Liechtenstein renounced its banking licence on Monday.

As a result, the lender is no longer authorised to provide banking services in the country. The FMA said it will supervise the liquidation.

Banque Havilland declined to comment.

The company is owned by the Rowland family, which has links to the British monarchy. David Rowland, one of Britain’s richest people, has acted as the financial advisor to Prince Andrew, the son of the late Queen Elizabeth.

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The beginning of the process to close its operations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein comes just days after the ECB notified Banque Havilland that it intends to revoke its banking licence in the company’s home market of Luxembourg.

The move came following a variety of AML issues at the firm, including its failure to implement required changes after it was fined €4 million by Luxembourg’s financial supervisory authority, the CSSF.

The regulator imposed the penalty in 2018 for inadequate measures against money laundering and poor governance.

Banque Havilland, which has €1.35 billion in assets and provides services to a variety of wealthy clients, is no longer accepting new deposits.

It is expected that the ECB’s decision was likely due to the fact that the CSSF had “deemed a repeat offence” had occurred.

Banque Havilland is also reported to be in advanced stages of exclusive negotiations to sell its Monaco subsidiary to One Swiss Bank, a private bank.