Laws already in place, but BSI chose to ignore them

IN 2009, Hans Peter Brunner was said to have dealt his former employer RBS Coutts a body blow when he decamped to BSI with 90 employees, or about a third of the bank's headcount.

The "exodus", which was to build up BSI, the Swiss-based Italian private bank which has since been acquired by EFG International, was said to have left former colleagues feeling bereft, given that he was the CEO of RBS Coutts at the time.

Some of them now must be having a schadenfreude moment after hearing that the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Tuesday has shut down BSI for serious misconduct and that six BSI senior managers including Mr Brunner have been referred to the Public Prosecutor to evaluate whether they have committed criminal offences.