Swiss Post CEO will not join board after retirement

Swiss Post’s current chief executive Jürg Bucher will not joint the company’s board of directors when he retires at the end of August. Swiss Post’s current chief executive Jürg Bucher will not joint the company’s board of directors when he retires at the end of August.

Bucher issued a personal announcement today confirming that instead he will take three appointments to join the boards of Switzerland’s largest regional bank, Valiant, as well as for Zurich-based investment firm SUSI Partners and for St Gallen-based advertising firm Gorba AG.

The statement confirmed that Bucher will not join the Swiss Post board or that of its financial services unit PostFinance AG.

“This pays due attention to good corporate governance with a clear separation being made between operational management and the board of directors,” said Bucher’s statement.

Bucher is set to be succeeded as Swiss Post CEO this September by Susanne Ruoff, the BT Switzerland chief executive.

The current Swiss Post CEO joined the company back in 1985, initially in its finance department before moving into line management in 1994 with roles in both the postal business and PostFinance.

Bucher became a member of Swiss Post’s executive board in 2003, and was appointed CEO in late 2009. Under his leadership, Swiss Post has become one of the most successful postal services in Europe, with an impressive record in diversifying its portfolio of services.

PostFinance

Among his new directorships, the Valiant role could see him involved in developing that bank’s relationship with PostFinance, which is the fifth largest retail financial institution in Switzerland with 2.75m customers, but does not have a banking licence.

Berne-based Valiant has been providing loan products for PostFinance customers since late 2009 and mortgage products since September 2010.

“In contrast to other competitors, the bank has always spoken out in favour of further development of PostFinance,” said Bucher in his statement, explaining the basis of the partnership.

Bucher will be addressing this year’s World Mail and Express Europe event when it arrives in Geneva on 21st May, and is expected to discuss his company’s pioneering efforts on the boundaries of physical and digital mail. Click here for more details »