(Bloomberg) -- Gilles Stuck, the ex-Credit Suisse banker pivotal in building Julius Baer Group AG’s relationship with bankrupt property mogul Rene Benko, is leaving the firm. 

Stuck was responsible for bringing Benko and his Signa group of companies over to Baer when he joined in 2018, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Stuck initially led the structured finance unit before being promoted to market head for Switzerland in 2021. He’d spent over a decade at Credit Suisse, where he focused on corporate and structured lending. Executive Board member Sonia Goessi will take over his duties on an interim basis, the people said, who asked not to be named discussing private details.

A spokesperson for Julius Baer confirmed Stuck’s decision to leave the bank. Stuck did not respond to a request for comment.

The departure comes less than three weeks after the Zurich-based bank parted ways with its Chief Executive Officer Philipp Rickenbacher, a consequence of the revelation in November that it had run up a $700 million exposure to the unraveling property tycoon. The bank has said it plans to exit the private debt business at the heart of the blow-up.

David Nicol, chair of the governance and risk committee of the board of directors, won’t stand for re-election this year, the bank also said this month. The lender has written off almost all of its Signa loans, resulting in a hit of 586 million Swiss francs ($664 million) and cutting its profit for 2023 in half compared to the previous year.

The collapse of the Signa group is one of the biggest European real estate meltdowns since the global financial crisis. 

Read more: Julius Baer’s Rickenbacher to Exit, Dreckmann to Be Interim CEO

(Updates with spokesman confirmation)

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