Another international banking group is looking to sell its Swiss private banking business.

The merger and acquisition merry-go-round will continue to whirl in Switzerland, at least according to media reports saying that Standard Chartered, which earns the bulk of its revenues outside Europe, is poised to sell its Geneva-based private bank.

The report was made by Radio Television Suisse on Monday, a Reuters report said. RTS did not name sources.

“As previously announced, Standard Chartered is looking at options for its private banking business in Geneva; it is too early to say what the outcome of that process will be, however I can confirm that the bank will retain staff and operations in Switzerland,” a spokesperson told this publication.

Earlier this year, Standard Chartered said it was reviewing its global operations and might sell the business, concentrating instead on Asia, Africa and the Middle East where it already has a strong presence. Another Reuters report said no firm decision has yet been taken.

If such a move is made, it will not be the first time that an international bank has quit the Swiss private banking market, now under assault over its historic bank secrecy regime and status as an offshore tax haven. In some cases, banks have also sold businesses where they say they haven’t achieved critical mass to run them profitably. In other cases, the desire to sell may be a desire to get rid of business under regulatory assault and associated compliance risk.

Morgan Stanley has sold its Swiss private bank to Bank J Safra Sarasin, and Bank of America sold its non-domestic wealth business – including its Swiss one – to Julius Baer. Lloyds Banking Group, the partly state-owned UK banking group, has sold international private banking operations in Geneva to Union Bancaire Privée. And BSI, the Lugano-headquartered private banking business that is owned by Switzerland’s Generali, is up for sale and in talks with Grupo BTG Pactual, Latin America's largest independent investment bank. With all such transactions, the crunch issue is how much of the money – and relationship managers – choose to stay under their new bank roofs.