The bank, which operates in places such as Liechtenstein, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands and Singapore, said it expects a significant rise in 2017 profits.

Liechtenstein-headquartered VP Bank Group has announced it expects group net income of around SFr66 million ($70.7 million) for 2017, up 13 per cent from a year before.

The bank said the result includes a SFr10.9 million provision that it had previously disclosed in the first half of last year. That sum was connected to an agreement with authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia relating to untaxed assets of German clients.

Results for 2017 were also boosted by the one-off effect caused by a change to the pension fund conversion rate that cut personnel costs.

The positive development seen in net new money during the first half of 2017 also continued during the second half of the year, the banks said.

VP Bank added that figures are unaudited: The annual results for 2017 and the annual report will be published as planned on 6 March 2018. No further information on the Group’s business performance will be released until then, it added. 

Last January, the bank said Bruno Morel was named the new chief executive of VP Bank (Singapore), part of Liechtenstein-headquartered VP Bank, taking the reins from Rajagopal Govindarajoo, formerly managing director of that entity.