About

Pascal Baumgartner serves as the head of legal and compliance for Valiant Bank, an independent retail and SME bank operating exclusively in Switzerland with total assets of CHF27.2bn and around 1,000 employees. He has held this position since joining Valiant in 2014, and due to his deep knowledge in corporate finance and capital markets, his responsibilities increased in 2016 when he was elected to become a member of the board of directors of Valiant Hypotheken as well as the legal and compliance commission (KORECO) and Swiss Bankers Association (SBA). Over the duration of this role, he has built up the in-house department, presenting the legal and compliance-issues directly to the executive board. Baumgartner has gone on to replace almost all processes in compliance, leading contract management for the entire bank and dealing with the legal aspects in the digital transformation of the bank. Baumgartner represents Valiant with external stakeholders, particularly when he takes part in the law and compliance commission of the Swiss Bankers Association, where he sits in the working group of the State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF). Baumgartner set up a covered bond program worth CHF5bn, based only on Swiss law, the first program of its kind, and has worked to issue two tranches amounting to CHF250m and CHF500m. He has additionally worked on the M&A between Valiant and Triba Partner Bank, strengthening their partnership agreement that dates back to 2009.