Boris Collardi, who last year surprised the industry by quitting as Julius Baer head, has headed the Association of Swiss Asset and Wealth Management Banks, or ASPB, for the past six years. The trade lobby is proposing that Marcel Rohner replace Collardi, it said Friday.

Rohner led UBS from July 2007 until early 2009, a difficult period for the country’s largest bank, and one in which the Swiss National Bank and the government had to intervene to prevent its collapse in the wake of the crippling global financial crisis.

Currently on the board of the Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privée, or UBP, the 53-year-old publicity-shy Rohner also serves on the boards of the Neuen Helvetischen Bank and the real estate company Warteck Invest.

Ongoing Julius Baer Presence

Collardi last year resigned from Julius Baer, and will join the Geneva-based Bank Pictet as a partner in the summer, however the private bank will retain a presence on the VAV board as current Julius Baer CEO Bernhard Hodler (pictured below) has been nominated as vice president.

The lobby represents around 27 banks based in Switzerland and who are mainly active in the management of private and institutional assets. According to the VAV, its members manage assets totaling around 1,000 billion francs and employ some 1,700 staff in Switzerland and abroad.