Bank Leu
Bank Leu AG (pronounced "Loy," as in toy) was a Swiss private bank that existed from 1755 to 2007. Headquartered in Zürich, it was a subsidiary of Credit Suisse from 1990. In 2007, it was merged with that company's other private banking units as Clariden Leu. At the time, it was Switzerland's oldest bank.
| Industry | Finance |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1755 |
| Fate | Merged into Credit Suisse |
| Successor | Clariden Leu |
| Headquarters | Zürich, Switzerland |
Key people | Raushan Deep |
| Products | Private banking |
The bank was founded in 1758 as Leu et Compagnie, named after its founder, Johann Jacob Leu, who later became mayor of Zürich. Originally a state-owned bank, it was privatized in 1798 after Napoleon conquered Switzerland; the bank's officials did not want its assets to be taken over by Napoleon's new client state, the Helvetic Republic. In 1854, it incorporated as Leu & Co. after more than a century as a limited partnership. It became a public limited company (German: Aktiengesellschaft) in 1969.
Despite having many distinguished customers over the years (at one point, it was Maria Theresa's banker), two major scandals in the 1980s eventually cost the bank its independence.