Julius Baer isn't immune to the spread of the coronavirus and its shock effect on society, the global economy, and financial markets, it told shareholders in the invitation to its annual meeting. It plans to nevertheless conduct the investor meeting on April 16.

«We are reducing the risk of exposure for clients and staff in all our locations and have put in place measures to ensure the continuity of our business: our operations have not been impacted so far,» Chairman Romeo Lacher said in the note.

Breaking With Past

Shareholders won't attend in person – as in many countries, assemblies are banned in Switzerland due to the outbreak. Julius Baer didn't detail its continuity measures or comment on current business; last week, Credit Suisse flagged a trading boom in its wealth arm as well as its investment bank, due in large part to the crisis.

Lacher also sought to put distance to scandals, like dealing in Venezuelan corruption money: «Please let me be frank with you: certain historical legal and risk-related issues that we are in the process of resolving are not representative of today’s risk culture at Julius Baer, and definitely not of the one we are striving to achieve in future,» he noted.