Julius Baer jumps 8.8% as Swiss regulator finally lets go

FINMA closed its enforcement case against Julius Baer on Tuesday, the fifth such procedure the regulator has wrapped up against the bank in under ten years, over its Signa lending exposure and two Russian politically-exposed client relationships, as Reuters and Swissinfo report. Shares hit a record CHF78.20 before settling near CHF77.86, and the bank has already asked FINMA for permission to restart buybacks, with RBC penciling in CHF150 million next year and CHF600 million in 2027. FINMA's own statement still found the bank had seriously breached risk and anti-money-laundering rules, it simply chose to lift the restrictions rather than extend them. CEO Stefan Bollinger inherited this mess in January 2025 and now gets to spend capital on shareholders instead of remediation.