Shares in Julius Baer fell 6 per cent yesterday after the Swiss private bank said the costs of integrating the Merrill Lynch businesses it bought from Bank of America in 2012 had contributed to a 30 per cent decline in net profit in 2013.

The Zürich-based group also revealed that it had been contacted by Finma, the Swiss banking watchdog, in relation to the global probe into possible manipulation of the foreign exchange market.

Boris Collardi, chief executive, said Finma’s interest related to “a couple” of employees who had joined from Credit Suisse and UBS. Finma was interested in the past and present activities of the employees, but Julius Baer was not under investigation. UBS and Credit Suisse declined to comment. None of the employees has been suspended. – (Copyright the Financial Times Limited 2014)