OREANDA-NEWS. From 3 June, 2015, the Board of Directors of Valartis Group AG designates Stephan H?berle, member of the Board of Directors, as Group CEO. He will succeed Gustav Stenbolt, Group CEO of Valartis Group, who will be nominated for election as Chairman by the Board of Directors at the General Meeting on 2 June, 2015. For that reason, Stephan H?berle will no longer be available for re-election as member of the Board of Directors at the Valartis Group AG 2015 General Meeting. He has in-depth knowledge of inter­nationa­l private banking and wealth management and many years of experience in management positions, in particular in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria as well as in central Europe.

Continued realignment and strategic focusing in 2014/2015
In 2014, Valartis Group concentrated on implementation of the strategic decisions taken in 2013 and 2014. In the foreground were the divestment of the wholly owned subsidiary, Valartis Bank AG, Switzerland to Banque Cramer & Cie S.A. at end-August 2014, and the reorgani­zation of Valartis Group AG. Valartis Group holds a 25-percent participation in Norinvest Holding S.A., the listed parent company of Banque Cramer & Cie S.A., who purchased the Swiss Bank, which permitted Valartis Group to maintain its private banking market access in Switzerland to a reduced extent in 2014. Valartis Group continues to focus on private banking and wealth management, as well as asset management, corporate finance, private equity and real estate management.

During the course of the reorganization in 2014/2015, the Board of Directors realigned the business model to the new framework conditions and market environment and reconstituted the Board of Directors and Group Executive Management.

Board of Directors of Valartis Group AG
The Board of Directors will nominate Gustav Stenbolt, Group CEO of Valartis Group, for election as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the 2015 General Meeting on 2 June, 2015. If Mr  Stenbolt is elected, Urs Maurer-Lambrou will be designated Vice-Chairman.
Rolf M?ller-Senn will no longer be available for re-election. However, he will remain a member of the Boards of Directors of Valartis Finance Holding AG, Liechtenstein, and Valartis Bank (Liechten­stein) AG, as well as a member of the Supervisory Board of Valartis Bank (Austria) AG. Following the 2015 General Meeting, Stephan H?berle will take up his position as Group CEO of Valartis Group AG and will, therefore, not be available for re-election. The other members of the Board of Directors, Urs Maurer-Lambrou, Chri­stoph N. Meister and Jean-Fran?ois Ducrest, are available for re-election.

Group Executive Management and new Group CEO as of 3 June, 2015
As of 3 June, 2015, the Board of Directors has appointed Stephan H?berle as Group CEO to the Group Executive Management of Valartis Group. From 3 June, 2015, Group Executive Management comprises: Stephan H?berle, Group CEO, and George M. Isliker, Group CFO/CRO. Vin­cen­zo Di Pierri, Deputy Group CEO of Valartis Group and former CEO of Valartis Bank AG, Switzerland, will withdraw from Group Executive Management on 3 June, 2015. The Board of Directors would like to take this opportunity to thank Vincenzo Di Pierri for his commitment and to wish him all the best for the future.

Stephan Heberle (Swiss, 55), Bachelor of Business Administration, has many years of experience in international wealth management and considerable experience in manage­ment positions. From 1980 to 1998, he occupied various positions at Bank Leu, Zurich in Private Banking in Switzerland and abroad. In 1996 he was appointed Chief of Staff and led various projects. From 1998 to 2006, Mr Heberle worked at UBS Wealth Management International where he was in charge of Austria and Central Europe as Regional Market Manager. In 2006, he moved to LGT in Liechtenstein as Head of Private Banking International and member of the Senior Management. He was also member of the management of LGT (Switzerland). Between 2009 and 2012, he was CEO of Centrum Bank in Liechtenstein and from 2010, Group CEO. He managed MediBank in Zug as CEO between 2013 and 2015.

Since 1 March, 2015, Stephan Heberle has been CEO of Valartis Finance Holding AG, Vaduz, which was incorporated in summer 2014 during the course of the Group's reorientation. Valartis Finance Holding AG comprises the relevant operations of the private banking and wealth management divisions of the two private banks in Liechtenstein and Austria, together with holdings in the area of finance such as in the Swiss company Norinvest Holding S.A., the parent company of Banque Cramer & Cie S.A. Valartis Finance Holding AG is subject to consolidated monitoring by the Financial Market Authority Liechten­stein (FMA).

Stephan Heberle has been a member of the Board of Directors of Valartis Group since 13 May, 2014. He will withdraw from the Board of Directors on 2 June, 2015.

Valartis Group

Valartis Group is an international banking and finance group represented today with offices in Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland as well as Luxembourg and Moscow. The Group's holding company is domiciled in Switzerland and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Valartis Finance Holding AG in Liechtenstein comprises the operations of the private banking and wealth management divisions, together with the private equity operations of ENR Russia Invest. Valartis Finance Holding AG is subject to the consolidated banking supervision by the Financial Market Authority Liechtenstein (FMA). Valartis Group focuses on the wealth management business for wealthy private clients and institutional investors in addition to traditional wealth manage­ment and investment advisory, it develops, manages and markets innovative niche investment products and offers specialized product packages. In doing so, Valartis Group combines a wide range of traditional private banking services with specialized advisory and classical banking services in the fields of Asset Management, Corporate Finance and Private Equity together with innovative investment products in the categories Stocks, Fixed Income, Alternative Investments and Real Estate. Valartis Group's core markets include Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and certain countries in North and South America and Asia.