BTG Pactual completes acquisition of BSI Group for $129bn
Brazil's BTG Pactual has completed its acquistion of Swiss private banking company, BSI Group, for CHF1.25bn ($1.29bn), following Swiss approval.  This was a drop from the CHF1.5bn ($1.54bn) it had originally agreed to pay last July, due to an adjustment stemming from the cost of BSI cooperating with the US Justice Department in a self-reporting tax programme earlier this year.  Alfredo Gysi will resign as President of BSI and be replaced by Joseph Rickenbacher as of September 16. BTG Pactual also revealed that it is considering making further acquisitions. 

RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual has received approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority to acquire the Swiss private bank BSI, and in doing so concluded the transaction, the firm, based in São Paulo, said on Tuesday.

That follows other regulatory approvals, including one from Brazil’s central bank, and clears the way for one of Latin America’s largest banks to continue pushing into global private banking as Brazil’s economy contracts.

BTG agreed to pay a final amount of 1.25 billion Swiss francs to Assicurazioni Generali of Italy, BSI’s owner, it said in a statement. That represents a drop from the 1.5 billion Swiss francs originally agreed to last July, according to a statement issued then.

A BTG spokesman said on Tuesday that the difference was an adjustment stemming from the cost of BSI cooperating with the United States Justice Department in a self-reporting tax program earlier this year.