Concept
CBH Bank (Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique SA) is a Geneva private bank with a strong external-asset-manager line and a client base across Latin America, Israel and Asia. Type: family-owned and unlisted — the holding CBH Holding SA, with the Benhamou family at 84% (per S&P, 2022); the bank has carried an S&P BBB/A-2 rating since 2023. Founded in 1975 as a brokerage; banking licence since 1991. The group CEO since October 2024 is Simon Benhamou.
History and evolution
1975 — founded in Geneva (Stock and Commodity Services); 1991 — banking licence (Banque SCS Alliance); 1995 — a banking and trust licence in the Bahamas; 2002 — a Zurich branch via the PG Partner Bank acquisition. In 2009 the Benhamou family took majority control and renamed the bank CBH. Growth through client books: in 2014 a major part of Banque Privée Espírito Santo's clientele after the ESFG collapse; in 2015 Hong Kong's TTG (now CBH Asia); in 2016 the private banking book of FIBI Bank (Switzerland); in 2018 Schroders' Eastern-European private banking book; in 2018–19 the 1618 Investimentos units in Brazil. In 2020 the bank took a 30% stake in digital bank FlowBank and sold it in March 2022 — two years before FlowBank's FINMA-ordered bankruptcy. In 2023 it bought 16% of real-estate investor Stoneweg; in 2025 it marked its 50th anniversary.
Assets under management reached CHF 18.4bn at end-2025 (+13%) on record net new money of ~CHF 2bn; the Tier 1 ratio is 35.8% with 360 staff.
Regulation
- FINMA — CBH Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique SA (Geneva; a Zurich branch, a St. Moritz representative office);
- Central Bank of The Bahamas and the Securities Commission — CBH Bahamas Ltd (Nassau, since 1995);
- FCA — CBH Europe Ltd (London, investment management);
- SFC — CBH Asia Ltd (Hong Kong);
- CVM — 1618 Investimentos (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo);
- CSSF — the 1618 Luxembourg SICAV fund family (since 1993).
Source of funds and compliance
Onboarding involves a personal meeting, typically one trip to Switzerland; a full source-of-funds and source-of-wealth file plus CRS/FATCA. Dated proceeding: on 18 November 2021 FINMA closed its Venezuela enforcement: it found AML breaches in 2012–2020 (a "serious infringement of supervisory law"), ordered the bank to terminate remaining Venezuelan relationships and review other especially risky ones; no financial sanction was imposed. For clients this means demanding entry compliance.
Who it serves
- HNW clients: no official minimum is published; industry references cite entry from CHF 1m with a mandatory personal meeting (unofficial);
- non-residents from Latin America, Israel, Asia and Eastern Europe — the historic specialisation;
- external asset managers — a custody business across four booking centres;
- families needing family-office coverage and structuring.
Services
Wealth management
- discretionary and advisory management on an open architecture;
- the proprietary 1618 fund family (Luxembourg SICAV);
- a trading desk covering equities, bonds, FX and structured products.
Lending
- lombard loans, fully collateralised L/Cs and guarantees;
- real-estate, yacht and aircraft financing.
Private markets
- private-markets expertise; the 16% stake in developer Stoneweg (2023) as a bridge to real-estate deals.
Everyday banking
- card issuing (Visa principal member; the first Swiss metal Visa Infinite, 2021);
- family office, asset structuring, custody for financial intermediaries.
Entities and booking centres
Ten offices and four booking centres: Switzerland, the Bahamas, Hong Kong, the UK.
| Jurisdiction | Legal entity | Format and supervisor | Role for the client |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | CBH Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique SA | bank, FINMA; Geneva, Zurich, St. Moritz | main booking centre |
| Bahamas | CBH Bahamas Ltd, Nassau | bank and trust, CBB/SCB | booking centre for the Americas |
| UK | CBH Europe Ltd, London | manager, FCA (since 2012) | booking centre and management |
| Hong Kong | CBH Asia Ltd | SFC (formerly TTG, since 2015) | Asia booking centre |
| Israel | representative office, Tel Aviv | since 2010 | local coverage |
| Brazil | 1618 Investimentos (Rio, São Paulo) | CVM | local asset management |
There is no Singapore or Dubai presence; the bank never entered the US (the 2018 Brickell Bank deal did not complete).
Strengths
- one of the few mid-size Swiss banks with a public S&P rating (BBB/A-2);
- four booking centres, including a rare Bahamian one;
- high capitalisation: a Tier 1 ratio of 35.8%;
- live card and payment functionality alongside wealth management.
Where it does not fit
- clients needing booking in Singapore, Dubai or Luxembourg — none exist;
- those sensitive to the supervisory record: the FINMA Venezuela proceeding ended with an order in 2021;
- fortunes below ~CHF 1m (the unofficial benchmark);
- US persons — the bank has no American platform.
CBH is a mid-size Geneva house with an unusually wide booking map for its size (Geneva, Nassau, London, Hong Kong) and a strong external-manager niche; the Venezuela supervisory history is closed with an order and is part of the public profile.
Q/A
Entry and geography
What minimum capital does CBH require?
No official minimum is published. Industry references cite entry from CHF 1 million with a mandatory personal meeting; for non-residents the practice is one trip to Switzerland and a full source-of-wealth file.
What does the Bahamian booking offer?
CBH Bahamas Ltd is a bank and trust company licensed by the Central Bank of The Bahamas and the Securities Commission since 1995. It is an alternative booking jurisdiction for clients from the Americas; note that the Bahamas has no public deposit-insurance scheme.
What does the deposit guarantee cover?
Switzerland — esisuisse CHF 100,000 per client; custody securities are segregated and returned to the owner. The Bahamas has no deposit insurance; the London, Hong Kong and Brazil entities take no deposits.
Supervisory backdrop
How did the FINMA Venezuela proceeding end?
On 18 November 2021 FINMA found AML breaches in 2012–2020 and ordered the bank to terminate Venezuelan relationships and review other high-risk ones; no financial sanction was imposed. The bank stated it cooperated and completed remediation.
Is it true the bank was a FlowBank shareholder?
Yes: CBH held 30% of digital bank FlowBank from 2020 and sold the stake in March 2022 — two years before FINMA initiated FlowBank's bankruptcy in June 2024. No link between CBH's exit and FlowBank's later problems has been publicly established.