Julius Baer Group Ltd. has announced an alignment of its organisation, leading to a further strengthened client orientation and increased efficiency. The new set-up will consist of the five Regions Switzerland, Europe (new), Emerging Markets (new), Latin America and Asia Pacific and will lead to changes within the Executive Board of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. Furthermore, Philipp Rickenbacher has been appointed as new Head Advisory Solutions, and Nic Dreckmann as new Chief Operating Officer of the Bank. In order to improve the client experience and to increase the efficiency of the organisation, the regional set-up of Julius Baer will be aligned and reduced by one Region as of 1 September 2016. Region Switzerland will be led by Gian A. Rossi. The Intermediaries business will be allocated to the new regional set-up and largely integrated into the Region Switzerland which includes the Global Custody business as well. Gian Rossi currently is Head Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. Barend Fruithof, Head Switzerland & Global Custody and Member of the Executive Board of the Bank, has decided to leave the Bank after a smooth handover due to differing views of the functional changes in the context of the new regional set-up. The new Region Europe (excluding Central/Eastern Europe, including Israel) will be run by Yves Robert-Charrue. He will further develop the European strategy mainly out of the new European hub Luxembourg following the recent acquisition of Commerzbank International S.A. Luxembourg. At present Yves Robert-Charrue is responsible for the Intermediaries business. The newly established Region Emerging Markets will be led by Rémy A. Bersier. The Region's strategy will be to further capture the vast growth opportunities in the attractive markets of Central/Eastern Europe/CIS, the Middle East, India and Africa. Rémy Bersier, who currently is Head Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa, will be based in Dubai. Furthermore, following the successful launch of `Julius Baer ­ Your Wealth', the Group's new holistic approach to advise its clients, the division Investment Solutions Group will change its strategic roadmap to fully focus on delivering the enhanced Julius Baer client experience. Hence, it will be renamed Advisory Solutions and will come under the new leadership of Philipp Rickenbacher as of 1 August 2016. He is currently Head Structured Products and will be member of the Executive Board of the Bank as of the same date. Nic Dreckmann has been appointed new Chief Operating Officer and member of the Executive Board of the Bank as of 1 August 2016. Nic will step down from the Executive Board of the Bank as of 1 August 2016 and will leave the Group by the end of the year. The new COO, Nic Dreckmann, will also be a member of the Executive Board of the Group as of 1 January 2017, replacing Greg Gatesman who will step down from the Executive Board of the Group by the end of the year. Additionally, Giovanni M.S. Flury, Member of the Executive Board of the Group, will retire on grounds of age at the end of 2016 after very successful 10 years with Julius Baer and 30 years in the financial industry.