Julius Baer Replaces Finance Chief Evie Kostakis as Management Reset Finalizes

Swiss bank Julius Baer seeks a new CFO as Evie Kostakis exits, completing a top-level shake-up following $742 million in real estate losses.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 10, 2026, 7:22 PM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Reuters

Final Phase of Executive Restructuring

Julius Baer Group Ltd. confirmed on April 10, 2026, that it has launched a formal search for a successor to Chief Financial Officer Evie Kostakis. According to a statement from the Zurich-based institution, Kostakis will vacate her role to pursue an undisclosed international leadership opportunity after an orderly transition period. Kostakis, who assumed the CFO position in 2022, was the most senior remaining member of the previous executive committee. Her departure signals the final chapter in a sweeping leadership overhaul triggered by a series of high-profile writedowns and risk management failures that have strained the bank’s reputation and balance sheet over the past 24 months.

The Fallout of the Signa Group Collapse

The leadership crisis at Julius Baer began in late 2023 when the bank disclosed a massive 606 million Swiss franc exposure to the insolvent Signa Group, controlled by Austrian property tycoon René Benko. By early 2024, the bank was forced to write off 586 million Swiss francs ($742 million) related to these loans, a revelation that led to the immediate ousting of then-CEO Philipp Rickenbacher. As the primary executive overseeing credit risk and financial reporting during the period when these private debt positions were initiated, Kostakis faced sustained pressure from shareholders and regulators to account for the lack of oversight in the bank's specialized lending book.

Establishment of an Outsider Leadership Core

To restore market confidence, Julius Baer has systematically replaced its internal hierarchy with external banking veterans. Stefan Bollinger, a former senior Goldman Sachs executive, officially took the helm as CEO on January 9, 2025, bringing a mandate to reduce management layers and aggressively cut costs. This was followed by the appointment of Noel Quinn, the former Group CEO of HSBC, as Chairman of the Board of Directors on May 1, 2025. Quinn’s arrival marked a decisive shift toward institutional discipline and has been instrumental in navigating the bank through ongoing enforcement proceedings from FINMA, the Swiss financial market regulator.