Banque Havilland: Monaco is being sold, but not to a Swiss institution.
On August 2, the European Central Bank (ECB) revoked the banking license of Banque Havilland in Luxembourg, which operated a subsidiary bank with its own banking licenses in Monaco and Liechtenstein, as well as a branch in Switzerland, according to an exclusive report by finews.com.
In anticipation of this step, the company had announced just a few days earlier that it would voluntarily relinquish the banking license in Liechtenstein as part of a voluntary liquidation and was seeking a buyer for the Monaco entity. Finews.com also reported on this.
Andbank signs «Letter of Intent»
Rumors circulated that Swiss private banking giant Julius Baer might be interested in the purchase.
This development has taken a different turn. As disclosed yesterday by the Monegasque news portal «news.mc», Andbank from Andorra has emerged as the buyer. The company has confirmed that it has signed a corresponding «Letter of Intent.»
Is this a reflection of differing risk appetites among regulatory authorities?
Such a solution seems to be blocked in Liechtenstein since the bank decided to return its license and undergo liquidation voluntarily. However, an asset deal, meaning the purchase of client relationships from the liquidating Banque Havilland, could still be a possibility, according to sources in the Vaduz area.
This raises the question of why a different course of action was taken in the southern principalities compared to the Principality of Liechtenstein. The most plausible explanation is that the supervisory authorities in Monaco and Andorra, on one hand, and the FMA in Vaduz, on the other, responded to the similar circumstances with varying degrees of risk tolerance.
Largest private bank in Andorra
Andbank is the largest private bank in Andorra, with assets under management of €8.2 billion. It is privately owned by the Cerqueda and Ribas families.
Jean Claude Molina has also held the role of «Directeur Administratif et Financier» at Andbank's Monaco subsidiary since 2021. Prior to this, he spent a decade as COO for Julius Baer in Monaco.
