Julius Baer, which reports fourth-quarter results later today, last week announced the formal end to the process of acquiring the non-US wealth
management business of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The acquired assets include those run on behalf of Asian clients.

The principal closing of the transaction, announced last
August and which brought in a business with SFr11 billion of assets, marks the
start of a two-year transfer and integration process, the Swiss bank said in a
statement.

"During this period, IWM [international wealth management] entities,
financial advisors, their client relationships and related assets under
management will be transferred to Julius Baer in a staggered process in the
respective more than 20 locations, subject to the fulfilment of local
preconditions," the bank said in a statement.

The first step in the acquisition and business transfer
process is the acquisition of Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse) and its branches in Zurich and Dubai.
Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse) is expected to be merged into Julius Baer in the summer of 2013.

“The IWM business is an excellent strategic fit, strengthening Julius Baer’s
presence in key growth markets and significantly enlarging our asset base,” said Boris
Collardi, chief executive at the Zurich-listed bank.

The acquisition of the BoA Merrill Lynch business last year
was one of the more notable M&A transactions in the wealth management
sector in recent years. According to recent research from Scorpio, the
consultancy, over $1.1 trillion of high net worth assets changed hands
between early 2008 and the middle of 2012 in such transactions, while the
average price paid, as a percentage of AuM, fell during that period.